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THE  RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND 
LIFE  IN  ISLAM 


The   Religious  Attitude 
and  Life  in  Islam 


BEING  THE  HASKELL  LECTURES  ON  COMPARATIVE 
RELIGION   DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  UNIVER- 
SITY OF  CHICAGO  IN   1 906 


v/    By 

DUNCAN  BLACK  MACDONALD,  M.A.,  B.D. 

Sometime  Scholar  and  Fellow  of  the  University  of  Glasgow ;   Professor  ot 

Semitic  Languages  in  Hartford  Theological  Seminary ;   Author 

of  Development  of  Muslim  Theology,  yurisprudence 

and  Constitutional   Theory,  etc. 


\*     JUL  30  1909      * 
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CHICAGO 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 

1909 


Copyright  1909  By 
The  University  of  Chicago 


Published  February  1909 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.  S.  A. 


To 
M.  L.  B.  M. 


PREFACE 

The  following  lectures  are  an  attempt  to  outline  the 
religious  attitude  and  life  of  Muslims,  as  opposed  to  the 
systematic  theology  of  Islam.  Of  the  development  of 
the  latter  I  published  a  sketch  some  years  ago;  to  that 
the  present  volume  may  be  regarded  as  a  complement. 

That  its  contents  will  be  a  surprise  to  many,  I  am  very 
conscious.  Instead  of  being  an  oriental  replica,  however 
humble,  of  Mr.  William  James's  Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience,  as  might  reasonably  be  expected,  it  will 
probably  suggest  to  most  the  Human  Personality  of  the 
late  F.  W.  H.  Myers.  But  nothing  else  was  possible. 
Orientals  have  never  learned  the  art  of  ignoring  all  but 
the  normal,  the  always  renewable;  they  have  kept  a 
mind  for  infinite  possibilities,  and  the  infinite  possibili- 
ties have  continued  to  come  to  them.  Naturally,  then, 
instead  of  their  religion  gradually  limiting  itself  down 
to  emotions  quickened  by  ethical  aspirations,  it  has 
retained  a  very  lively  feeling  of  contact  with  an  actual 
spiritual  world,  self-existent  and  in  no  process  of  depend- 
ent becoming. 

It  was  necessary,  therefore,  in  the  search  for  interpre- 
tative analogies,  to  turn,  not  to  our  metaphysical  systems 
or  to  our  religious  philosophy,  but  rather  to  what  we 
call  commonly,  in  jest  or  earnest,  the  occult.  These 
analogies,  therefore,  had  to  be  sought  chiefly  in  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  and 
similar  publications.     The  case  of  Muhammad  himself, 

vii 


Vlii  PREFACE 

for  example,  can  be  indefinitely  more  completely  illus- 
trated and  explained  by  the  phenomena  of  so-called 
trance-mediumship  than  by  any  other  hypothesis.  In  the 
light  of  what  we  know  now  on  such  matters,  even  Spren- 
ger's  most  able  and  learned  investigation  has  been 
completely  antiquated.  And  it  is  noteworthy,  further, 
that  the  theory  of  veridical  hallucinations  worked  out  by 
Gurney  and  Myers  is  essentially  that  of  al-Ghazzali  and 
Ibn  Khaldun. 

But  my  use  of  these  analogies  has  been  so  extensive 
that  in  order  to  avoid  misconceptions,  some  statement  of 
my  own  views  is  necessary.  So  far,  then,  as  one  may 
who  has  had  no  first-hand  experience,  I  am  driven  to 
regard  telepathy  as  proved.  Again,  so  far  as  one  may 
who  is  neither  a  physicist  nor  a  conjurer,  I  regard  the 
proof  of  what  Dr.  Maxwell  has  called  telekinesis, 
movement  of  objects  at  a  distance  without  contact, 
as  approaching  certainty.  Of  communications  by 
discarnate  spirits,  on  the  other  hand,  I  know  of  no 
satisfactory  proof.  I  trust  that  this  personal  statement 
in  explanation  and  defense  may  be  pardoned. 

References  have  been  kept  to  a  minimum,  but  have 
been  given  exactly  for  all  the  Arabic  texts  used.  Of 
Ibn  Khaldun's  Prolegomena  I  have  consulted  the  Bey- 
rout  and  Bulaq  texts  and  de  Slane's  translation.  The 
last,  made  from  Quatremere's  text,  is  fullest  of  all;  that 
of  Beyrout  has  considerable  omissions,  intentional  and 
accidental,  and  some  amazing  blunders.  As  it  is  the 
most  accessible  and  seemingly  usable  text,  it  may  be 
worth  while  to  say  that  neither  as  regards  its  consonants 
nor  its  vowels  can  it  be  trusted.     The  other  references 


PREFACE  IX 

will  explain  themselves  to  the  Arabist;  for  him  also  I 
have  inserted  a  number  of  important  words  in  trans- 
literation; but  not,  I  trust,  so  many  as  to  annoy  the 
general  reader.  Of  necessity,  I  have  had  to  reproduce 
much  from  Arabic  authors.  For  the  most  part  this  is 
condensed  and  paraphrased  with  as  faithful  rendering 
of  the  thought  as  possible.  But,  from  time  to  time, 
sections  of  simple  translation  occur;  these  are  always 
indicated.  My  own  inserted  comments  will  also  be 
recognizable.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  in 
these  ten  lectures  hardly  an  entrance  has  been  made  into 
the  subject.  But  I  venture  to  hope  that  I  have  sketched 
the  essential  outlines,  and  that  future  research  will  bring 
only  additions  and  corrections  in  detail.  Very  Httle 
has  so  far  been  done  in  this  field;  but  several  articles 
in  Hasting's  Dictionary  oj  Religion,  ait  present  in  prepa- 
ration, will  contribute  to  it;  and  all  signs  indicate  a 
renewed  general  interest  in  Islam. 

I  have  again  to  express  my  indebtedness  to  my  col- 
league. Professor  Gillett,  for  his  counsel  in  philosophy, 
and  to  my  wife  for  much  patient  labor  in  copying  and 
for  suggestion  and  criticism  in  arranging  and  correcting. 
Without  her  comradeship  in  interest  and  her  knowledge 
of  the  general  subject  this  book  might  never  have  taken 
form,  and  in  her  hands  I  now  fittingly  leave  it. 

Duncan  B.  Macdonald 
Hartford,  Conn., 
October,  1908 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Lecture  I i 

The  religious  attitude  in  Islam;  reality  of  the 
Unseen  to  Orientals;  its  nature;  comparison  with 
mediaeval  Europe;  oriental  lack  in  sense  of  law; 
the  shell  of  law  and  the  supernatural  behind  it; 
oriental  indifference  to  incompatible  facts  and  devo- 
tion to  single  ideas;  prophecy  among  Hebrews  and 
Arabs;  the  soil  of  prophetism;  its  width  and  pro- 
ducts; Hebrew  poets  and  the  Schools  of  the  Proph- 
ets; Goldziher's  investigation  of  the  ancient  Arab 
poet;  poets  as  soothsayers  and  leaders;  the  Jinn; 
initiation  of  Hassan  ibn  Thabit;  inspiration  of  Mu- 
hammad; Arab  and  Hebrew  illustrations;  inspira- 
tional nature  of  Arab  poetry;  shd'^ir,  kdhin,  ^arrdf; 
hdtif,  bath  qol,  al-Khadir;  shay  tan;  fetish  cursing 
of  Arabs  and  Hebrews;  kdhins  and  saj'^;  Qur^dn  in 
saj'^;  story  of  King  Hujr;  Muhammad's  inspira- 
tional seizures;  Ibn  Sayyad;  Muhammad's  prob- 
lem and  germinative  conceptions;  essentially  a 
dualistic  mystic. 

Lecture  II 41 

Ibn  Khaldun,  his  life,  philosophy  of  history  and 
psychology;  his  views  on  inspiration  and  its  place 
in  the  world;  the  five  signs  of  a  prophet:  (a)  exhib- 
iting trance  conditions;  Muhammad's  pathological 
state;  (6)  a  pure  disposition;  (c) summoning  to  piety 
and  good  works;  (d)  in  a  respected  position;  (e) 
working  miracles;  different  theories  of  miracles; 
the  nature  of  the  Muslim  universe;  the  prophet's 
place  in  it;  the  soul  that  tends  upward;  the 
senses  and  the  powers  of  the  mind ;  the  three  kinds 
of  souls;    (a)  the  learned  of  this  world;  (b)  saints, 

xi 


xn  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

(c)  prophets;  how  prophetic  inspiration  comes 
down;  its  grievousness;  soothsayers  (kdhins)  and 
their  inspiration;  imperfect  prophets;  use  material 
inducers  and  excitants;  rhymed  prose  or  saf;  Ibn 
Sayyad;  do  soothsayers  cease  when  prophets  are 
sent?  the  pelted  devils;  soothsayers  pale  in  the 
light  of  prophecy;  astrological  doctrine  of  philos- 
ophers on  them;  their  attitude  to  prophets;  the 
Qur^dn  composed  in  saf;  how  did  Muhammad 
bring  on  his  trances  ?   or  could  he  induce  them  ? 

Lecture  III 70 

Ibn  Khaldun's  doctrine  of  dreaming;  its  causes 
and  kinds;  "one  of  the  six  and  forty  parts  of 
prophecy;"  the  comforters;  how  the  rational  soul 
apprehends  and  works;  its  relation  to  the  animal 
spirit;  the  cause  of  sleep;  immediate  spiritual  per- 
ception by  the  soul;  the  clothing  of  its  results  by  the 
imagination;  the  three  kinds  of  dreams;  methods 
of  inducing  dreams;  al-halumlya;  automatic  paral- 
lels to  these;  Muslim  oneirocritics;  Muhammad's 
example;  criteria  of  true  dreams;  examples;  al- 
Ghazzall  on  the  nature  of  the  vision  of  Allah  and 
Muhammad;  his  doctrine  of  images  or  symbols; 
Ibn  Khallikan's  dreams;  al-Beruni's  dream; 
Nasir  ibn  Khusraw's  dream;  al-Ash^ari's  dreams; 
Burton's  anecdote  of  a  vision  of  <=Ali;  al-Ghazzali's 
dream;  Ibn  Batuta. 


Lecture  IV 


The  soul  of  wizards  and  its  place  among  human 
souls;  the  essence  and  form  of  the  soul;  the  child 
soul;  the  two  apprehensions  of  the  soul;  appre- 
hension through  "scrying; "  divination  through  the 
insane;  "possession;"  "automatic  speech;"  the 
^arrdf;  the  kdhins;  the  speaking  head;  artificial 
death  by  asceticism;    Ibn  Batuta  and  the  yogis; 


95 


CONTENTS  xiu 


attitude  of  Sufis;  their  disapproval  of  seeking  such 
things;  their  miracles;  idiot  saints;  their  relation 
to  the  ritual  law  and  the  Unseen;  geomancy;  mys- 
terious powers  of  numbers  and  letters;  origin  of 
this  idea;  difference  between  magic  and  the  science 
of  talismans;  legal  status  of  both;  source  of  their 
sciences;  "Nabataean  Agriculture;"  Geber;  Mas- 
lama  of  Madrid;  the  true  basis  of  magic  accord- 
ing to  Ibn  Khaldun;  souls  of  magicians  of  three 
kinds :  (a)  working  through  the  will;  (b)  using  talis- 
manic  help;  (c)  affecting  imagination;  reality  of 
magic;  in  the  Qur^dn,  the  ancient  world,  Egypt; 
Ibn  Khaldun 's  own  experiences;  the  "slitters;" 
"amicable  numbers;"  doctrine  of  philosophers 
on  these;  compare  "mental"  and  "Christian 
science;"  distinction  from  miracle;  Sufi  miracles; 
the  Eye;  "interest"  and  "utilitarianism"  in  Islam; 
Ibn  Khaldun's  position;  "interesting"  in  Arabic 
and  Turkish;  Muslim  mysticism  utilitarian;  al- 
Ghazzali;  two  views  of  Averroes;  magic  for  the 
modern  Muslim;  Lane's  experiences;  Professor 
E.  G.  Browne's  experiences;  the  paradox  in  it  all; 
"God's  in  his  world." 


Lecture  V 


Ibn  Khaldun  and  the  Jinn;  his  attitude  to  meta- 
physics; a  Ghazzalian  pragmatist  and  a  mystic; 
his  view  of  "obscure"  verses  of  the  Qur^dn;  the 
Jinn  in  old  Arabia;  Robertson  Smith  on  them;  the 
Jinn  in  Muhammad's  time;  his  attitude;  later  le- 
gend and  theology  on  Muhammad's  intercourse 
with  them;  their  position  under  the  Law;  traces  of 
a  theological  effect  of  the  Fall;  Iblis  in  Europe  and 
Islam;  the  Jinn  and  Harun  ar-Rashid;  marriage 
between  men  and  Jinn;  the  saints  and  the  Jinn; 
al-Ghazzali's  experience;  legend  of  ^Abd  al-Qadir; 
tales  from  Ibn  ^Arabi;  ash-Sha^rani  and  the  Jinn; 


PAGE 


130 


XIV  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

devotees  of  the  Jinn;  attitude  of  philosophers;  al- 
Farabi;  have  the  Jinn  reason  {'^aql)  ?  Avicenna; 
Muslim  attitude  in  general;  Professor  E.  G. 
Browne's  story;  comment;  Bayle  St.  John's  ex- 
perience; Muslimate  westerners. 

Lecture  VI 157 

Recapitulation;  saints  and  the  emotional  religious 
life  in  Islam;  Islam  a  mystical  faith;  its  varying 
degrees;  saints  as  teachers;  begging  friars; 
darwish  fraternities;  the  Qadirites;  organization 
of  fraternities;  the  Sufi  hierarchy;  comparison 
and  contrast  with  organization  of  Roman  Church; 
Ibn  Khaldun's  philosophy  of  Sufi  history;  deriva- 
tion of  Sufi;  the  Siifi  ladder  of  "states;"  as  a 
written  science;  rending  the  veil  of  sense;  transi- 
tion to  metaphysics;  relation  of  God  to  the  world; 
unity  and  multiplicity;  influence  of  Isma'^ilites  and 
Shi^ites;  Sufiism  under  four  heads:  (a)  discipline 
of  the  soul;  {b)  unveiling  of  the  Unseen;  (c)  con- 
trol of  material  things;  {d)  wild  expressions  in 
ecstasy;  al-Ghazzali  as  an  example;  his  auto- 
biography; search  for  ultimate  truth;  the  depths 
of  skepticism;  the  mercy  of  God;  the  seekers  of 
his  day;  his  study  of  Sufiism;  the  snares  of  the 
world;  his  conversion;  his  flight;  life  as  a  Sufi 
religious;  experiences;  the  mystic  union  with 
God;  the  phenomena  of  the  inner  life  as  a  proof 
of  the  Unseen;  his  doctrine  of  man's  nature;  the 
"heart"  and  its  sickness;  the  medicine  of  the  law; 
anecdotes. 

Lecture  VII 195 

Hypnotic  and  antinomian  saints;  Molia  Shah; 
Tawakkul  Beg;  virtues  of  Qur.  cxii;  opening  the 
spiritual  world  by  thought  transference;  colored 
photisms;     case   of    Dara    Shukoh;     of   Princess 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGE 

Fatima;  woman  in  Islam;  Lane's  two  wait  friends; 
the  wandering  ascetic  life;  order  in  the  Muslim  Un- 
seen; the  will  and  personality  of  Allah;  pathways 
to  reality,'  the  religious  life  in  general;  emotional 
effects  of  pilgrimage;  Hadgi  Khan — a  modern 
instance;    Islam  and  Roman  Christendom. 

Lecture  VIII 220 

The  discipline  of  the  traveler  on  his  way  through 
the  world;  al-Ghazzali's  doctrine  of  the  "heart;" 
definition  of  terms:  "heart;"  "spirit;"  exoteric 
and  esoteric;  "flesh"  or  "soul;"  "intelligence;" 
the  armies  of  God,  visible  and  invisible,  material 
and  spiritual;  the  journey  to  God;  the  body  as 
a  vehicle;  its  needs;  the  armies  of  the  heart;  al- 
Ghazzali's  allegories  thereof;  a  king  in  his  king- 
dom; the  leaguer  of  the  City  of  Mansoul;  a  hunter 
with  horse  and  dog;  man's  knowledge  and  will; 
how  he  comes  to  them;  between  the  beasts  and 
the  angels;  under  his  hide  a  pig,  a  dog,  a  devil,  a 
sage;  "our  hearts  are  restless;"  the  heart  as  an 
instrument  of  knowledge;  the  mirror  of  the  Unseen 
and  its  defects;  created  for  God  and  containing 
God;  the  revelation  therein;  its  degrees;  classifi- 
cation of  kinds  of  faith;  "Everything  is  perishing 
save  His  Face;"  Alldhu  akhar;  the  Reality  and 
absorption  in  it;  ittihdd;  fand;  kinds  of  knowledge, 
all  ultimately  inspirational. 

Lecture  IX 252 

Sources  of  man's  knowledge;  ilhdm;  wahy;  the 
mirror  and  the  Preserved  Tablet;  the  veils  of  sense 
and  their  removal;  al-Ghazzali's  epistemology;  atti- 
tude of  Siifis;  the  method  of  the  seeker;  Allah! 
Allah!  auto-hypnosis;  Tennyson;  "Kim;"  Ldildha 
illd-lldh;  jadhha  versus  suluk;  darwishes  bd- 
shar^  and  bi-shaf^;  the  Naqshbandite  Tarlqa;  by 


xvi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

dhikr;  by  contemplation;  with  a  shaykh;  al- 
Khadir's  addition;  objections  of  speculative  theo- 
logians; heart  insight  versus  study;  al-Ghazzali's 
illustrations:  (a)  "the  eternal  deep;"  the  mystery 
of  the  body  and  the  mind;  the  two  doorways; 
(b)  the  decorated  vestibule;  the  purifying  of  the 
soul;  saving  faith;  legal  soundness  of  method; 
stories  of  saints;  the  miserliness  of  ash-Shibli; 
Shayban  and  his  lion;  another  lion;  veridical 
hallucinations;  the  heart  sways  between  the  world 
of  the  senses  and  the  Unseen. 

Lecture  X 274 

Temptations  that  assail  the  heart;  the  "whisper- 
ing" of  the  devil;  its  meaning,  and  how  the  devil 
rules  through  it;  the  two  traveling  companions; 
everyone  has  a  devil;  his  devices;  how  to  cut 
off  his  rule;  man  and  his  fleshly  nature;  asceti- 
cism; the  avenues  of  the  devil's  approach; 
anger  and  fleshly  lust;  Moses  and  the  devil; 
envy  and  cupidity;  Noah  and  the  devil;  fulness 
of  feeding;  John,  son  of  Zacharias  and  the 
devil;  love  of  adorning;  importuning  men;  haste; 
"the  oracles  are  dumb;"  money;  miserliness;  parti- 
sanship in  theology;  study  of  theology  by  the 
masses;  suspicion  of  Muslims;  how  to  guard  these 
avenues;  purifying  the  heart  and  "thought"  of 
God;  formulae;  Muhammad's  own  experiences; 
medicine  on  an  empty  stomach;  are  there  many 
devils  ?  the  family  of  the  devil;  the  devil,  Adam 
and  the  Lord;  has  the  devil  a  form  and  can  he 
be  seen  ?  a  symbol  or  a  true  form  ?  parallel  of 
Ibn  <^Arabi's  story  of  Jinn  and  Irish  leprechauns; 
al-Ghazzali's  philosophy  of  spirits  in  general;  the 
relative  culpability  of  evil  thoughts  in  the  heart;  an 
analysis;  can  whispering  of  the  devil  be  entirely 
cut  off?    its  three  phases;    extreme  instability  of 


CONTENTS  xvii 

the  heart;  three  kinds  of  hearts;  Allah's  abso- 
lute guidance  aright  and  astray;  "These  are  in  the 
Fire,  and  I  care  not;"  the  end  of  the  matter; 
escape  of  the  Muslim  mystic  from  orthodox  the- 
ology into  pantheism. 


~\ 


LECTURE  I 

THE  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  SEMITES  TOWARD  THE 
UNSEEN  WORLD;  PROPHECY  AS  A  SEMITIC 
PHENOMENON  AND  ESPECIALLY  AMONG 
THE  ARABS 

You  may  remember  how  Robertson  of  Brighton 
used  to  say,  speaking  of  his  sermons  and  their  inspir- 
ation, "I  cannot  light  my  own  fire;  I  must  convey 
a  spark  from  another's  hearth."  The  same  idea 
and  the  same  expression  occur  in  Islam.  Muham- 
mad, following  the  usage  and  speech  of  the  desert, 
tells  (Qur^dn,  xx,  lo;  xxvii,  7)  how  Moses  left 
his  family  and  went  aside  to  the  Burning  Bush  to 
seek  from  it  a  brand,  a  qabas,  for  their  own  fire, 
Thence  iqtibds,  ''brand-seeking,"  persists  in  the 
rhetorical  language  of  Islam,  for  such  borrowing 
of  fire  from  predecessors.  Permit  me,  then,  having 
both  Christian  and  Muslim  authority,  to  quote,  by 
way  of  text  for  these  lectures,  a  couple  of  sentences 
from  Mr.  William  James's  Varieties  0)  Religious 
Experience,  that  give  very  precisely  the  thesis  which 
I  propose  to  set  before  you  as  illustrated  in  Islam. 
At  the  beginning  of  his  third  lecture,  when  approach- 
ing the  broad  question  of  the  reality  of  the  Unseen, 
he  says: 

Were  one  asked  to  characterize  the  life  of  religion  in  the 
broadest  and  most  general  terms  possible,  one  might  say  that 


2     RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

it  consists  of  the  belief  that  there  is  an  unseen  order,  and  that 
our  supreme  good  lies  in  harmoniously  adjusting  ourselves 
thereto.  This  belief  and  this  adjustment  are  the  religious 
attitude  in  the  soul. 

This  religious  attitude,  then,  as  developed  in 
Islam,  I  desire  to  put  before  you  now.  With  some 
danger  of  cross-division  it  can  be  analyzed  into  three 
points:  first,  the  reality  of  the  Unseen,  of  a  back- 
ground to  life,  unattainable  to  our  physical  senses; 
second,  man's  relation  to  this  Unseen  as  to  faith  and 
insight  therein ;  that  is,  the  whole  emotional  religious 
life  ranging,  at  the  simplest,  from  a  prayerful  attitude 
and  a  sense  of  God's  presence  to  the  open  vision 
of  the  mystic  with  all  its  complicated  theological 
consequences;  and,  lastly,  the  discipline  of  the 
traveler  on  his  way  to  such  direct  knowledge  of  the 
divine,  and  during  his  life  in  it.  My  training  in  the 
schools  of  philosophy  is  of  the  slenderest,  but  I  think 
I  see  in  these  three  a  metaphysical,  a  psychological, 
and  an  ethical  side  to  our  inquiry.  Let  me  beg  your 
indulgence,  however,  if  my  philosophical  footing 
ever  slips.  I  am  neither  metaphysician,  psycholo- 
gist, nor  ethicist;  I  am 'simply  a  student  of  Arabic 
and  of  Islam  who  desires  to  suggest  to  those  who 
are  metaphysicians,  psychologists,  and  ethicists 
some  of  the  problems  which  lie  for  their  science 
in  that  vast  and  so  broadly  unknown  territory. 
Regard  me,  then,  as  a  traveler  who  brings  back 
from   far   wanderings   but   partially   assorted   and 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD   3 

understood  gatherings,  which  scientific  geographers, 
botanists,  zoologists,  may  further  examine  and 
classify.  That  these  will  repay  the  trouble  may, 
I  think,  be  taken  for  granted  by  those  who  consider 
that  in  them  has  lain  the  faith  for  life  and  death  of 
millions  of  the  world's  best  minds  during  twelve 
centuries  of  time  and  over  a  quarter  of  the  earth  in 
space.  It  is  surely  worth  our  while  to  turn  some 
little  of  our  attention  from  the  so  often  childish 
speculations  of  Indian  sages,  and  see  what  contribu- 
tions have  been  made  to  the  final  problems  of  time 
and  eternity  by  races  far  more  nearly  akin  to  us 
in  thought,  if  not  in  language. 

But  from  this  captatio  henevolentiae  let  me  return. 
What,  first,  is  to  be  said  on  the  reality  of  the  Unseen 
in  Islam?  What  part  does  that  world  play;  how 
close  is  it;  what  is  its  relationship  to  the  everyday 
life  of  Muslims?  How  do  Muslims  think  of  it? 
Over  this,  the  reality  and  nature,  for  Islam,  of  the 
Unseen  we  must  spend  some  little  time.  The 
Muslim  attitude  is  so  different  from  our  trodden 
paths  of  thought  and  experience  that  only  a  patient 
turning  of  all  its  sides  and  an  accumulation  of 
example  and  illustration  can  make  it  real  to  us. 
I  shall  have  to  ask  your  indulgence  for  much  simple 
translating  in  what  follows.  You  want  the  views 
of  the  Muslim  writers  and  thinkers  as  they  have 
rendered  them,  and  not  any  lucubrations  of  mine. 

It  is  plain,  I  think,  and  admitted  that  the  con- 


4     RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

ception  of  the  Unseen  is  much  more  immediate  and 
real  to  the  Oriental  than  to  the  western  peoples. 
I  use  these  two  terms  in  the  broadest  fashion.  But 
the  cause  is  by  no  means  so  plain,  and  upon  it  much 
shipwreck  has  been  made  by  ingenious  students 
of  race  and  race  characteristics.  There  are  also,  on 
both  sides,  large  modifying  elements  which  seem, 
from  time  to  time,  almost  to  upset  the  general  law. 
If  we  say  that  the  Semitic  peoples,  as  a  race,  believe 
in  and  bow  in  reverence  to  an  Unseen,  we  may  be 
met  by  the  curious  skepticism  of  the  Arabs  them- 
selves, a  skepticism  which  nearly  baffled  Muhammad, 
and  which  appears  at  the  present  day  more  or  less 
through  the  entire  desert.  The  Arabs  show  them- 
selves not  as  especially  easy  of  belief,  but  as  hard- 
headed,  materialistic,  questioning,  doubting,  scoffing 
at  their  own  superstitions  and  usages,  fond  of  tests 
of  the  supernatural — tempting  God,  in  a  word — and 
all  this  in  a  curiously  light-minded,  almost  childish 
fashion.  They  had  diviners,  it  is  true,  as  we  shall 
see  hereafter,  and  were  ruled  partly  by  their  guidance, 
but  these  had  always  to  be  prepared  to  permit  tests 
of  their  powers  and  to  be  regarded  with  general 
suspicion.  Nothing  for  the  Arab  succeeded  like 
success,  as  Muhammad  discovered,  and  there  was 
no  balance  of  faith  to  carry  them  over  the  cracks  in 
the  supernatural  scheme.  They  demanded  of 
Muhammad  signs,  and  their  ideas  of  signs  were  of 
the    crudest,    most    non-spiritual    description;    the 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD   5 

Jews,  in  their  most  trying  days,  had  not  the  same 
blindness  as  these  Arabs  for  non-material  things. 
On  the  other  side,  take  Europe  and  faith  as  devel- 
oped there.  We  find  everywhere,  and  again  and 
again,  the  possibility  and  the  actuality  of  just  such 
absolute  acquiescence  in  and  acceptance  of  an 
immediately  impinging  unseen  world,  which  we 
commonly  ascribe  to  the  devout  East.  Hereafter, 
I  shall  have  to  tell  you  many  tales,  queer  to  gro- 
tesqueness,  simple  to  childishness,  devout  to  ecstasy, 
marvelous  to  madness,  of  oriental  saints  and  their 
vicissitudes,  but  I  venture  to  say  that  you  can  paral- 
lel them  all,  down  to  details,  in  the  Legenda  Aurea 
of  Jacobus  a  Voragine,  archbishop  of  Genoa  in  the 
late  thirteenth  century. 

Take,  for  example,  the  fastidiousness  as  to  their 
place  of  burial  so  often  exhibited  by  saints  after 
their  death.  The  very  same  trick  on  their  part  of 
making  their  bier  so  heavy  that  it  could  not  be  lifted 
until  the  bearers  had  decided  to  grant  them  their 
will  is  found  in  the  hagiology  of  both  East  and 
West,  and  several  times  in  the  Legenda  Aurea."^ 
And  further,  it  was  not  the  West,  but  the  supposedly 
devout  East,  which  fell  on  the  cynical  counter-trick 
of  spinning  the  bier  round  rapidly  until  the  saint 
had  lost  his  sense  of  direction  and  did  not  know 
whither  he  was  being  carried. 

I  E.  g..  Vol.  IV,  p.  170,  and  Vol.  VII,  pp.  145.  169,  of  the 
edition  in  "Temple  Classics." 


6     RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Again,  take  the  case  of  al-Ghazzali,  perhaps 
the  greatest  constructive  theologian  in  the  Muslim 
church,  who  died  A.  d.  iiii.  He,  as  I  trust  we 
shall  see  in  more  detail  hereafter,  had  to  fight  against 
unbelief  of  the  most  absolute  during  his  whole  life. 
In  his  earlier  days  it  was  in  himself.  At  one  time 
he  touched  the  depth  of  complete  skepticism  and 
doubted  even  the  operations  of  his  own  mind  and  the 
axioms  of  reason.  And  when,  in  the  light  of  the 
mystic,  he  was  able  to  see  his  own  way  again,  he 
found  the  mass  of  the  people  round  him  slipping 
into  similar  unbelief.  The  creeds  had  broken 
down;  the  law  of  Islam  was  no  longer  respected; 
its  divine  origin  was  criticized  or  doubted;  the 
nature  and  reality  of  prophecy  were  questioned. 
It  was  his  work  to  build  up  again  the  breaches  in  the 
Muslim  Zion,  and  that  Islam  exists  still  is  largely 
due  to  him.  It  would  be  easy  to  add  other  testi- 
monies. In  Islam,  as  in  Christendom,  he  who 
seeks  the  ages  of  faith  looks  ever  backward. 

The  truth  is,  I  am  persuaded,  that  we  commonly 
regard  this  acknowledged  difference  between  East 
and  West  from  the  wrong  point,  and  are  governed 
by  the  wrong  word.  It  is  not  really  faith  that  is  in 
question  here,  but  knowledge;  it  is  not  the  attitude 
to  God,  but  the  attitude  to  law.  The  essential 
difference  in  the  oriental  mind  is  not  credulity  as  to 
unseen  things,  but  inability  to  construct  a  system 
as  to  seen  things.    It  has  been  well  said,  that  the 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD   7 

Oriental  has  the  most  astonishing  keenness  in  view- 
ing, grasping,  analyzing  a  single  point,  and,  when 
he  has  finished  with  that  point,  can  take  up  a  series 
of  others  in  the  same  way.  But  these  points  remain 
for  him  separate;  he  does  not  co-ordinate  them. 
They  may  be  contradictory;  that  does  not  trouble 
him.  When  he  constructs  systems — as  he  often 
does — it  is  by  taking  a  single  point,  and  spinning 
everything  out  of  it ;  not  by  taking  many  points  and 
building  them  up  together.  Thus,  he  may  criticize 
one  point  and  be  quite  indifferent  to  the  consequent 
necessity,  for  us,  at  least,  of  criticizing  other  points. 
A  good  enough  example  is  the  oriental  method, 
which  I  have  just  mentioned,  of  thwarting  a  saint's 
caprice  as  to  his  place  of  burial.  There  is  no  great 
devoutness  of  feeling  there;  no  awe  at  the  breaking 
in  of  the  Unseen,  and  at  their  nearness  to  the  direct 
working  of  God.  There  is  simply  the  fact  of  this 
obstinate,  if  deceased,  saint,  and,  ''Well,  we'll  try 
to  rattle  him,"  as  we  may  imagine  them  saying  in  the 
slang  of  the  bazaar.  Familiarity  breeds  contempt. 
,.  The  supernatural,  to  them,  is  the  familiar— the 
usual;  only  it  is  not  subject  to  law,  and  they  never 
dream  that  it  can  be.  The  most  they  can  do  is  to 
set  their  wits  against  it  in  detail. 

Start,  then,  with  this,  that  the  difference  in  the 
Oriental  is  not  essentially  reHgiosity,  but  the  lack 
of  the  sense  of  law.  For  him,  there  is  no  immovable 
order  of  nature.     "The  army  of  unalterable  law" 


8     RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

which  we  see  in  the  heavens  for  him  may  change 
and  pass.  There  is  no  necessity  in  themselves  why 
the  things  that  have  been  should  be  the  things  that 
will  be.  You  will  remember  that  even  Ecclesiastes 
looks  beyond  them  and  finds  his  unchanging  circlings 
fixed  by  the  will  of  God.  So,  at  every  turn,  the 
Oriental  is  confronted  by  the  possibility  of  unfore- 
tellable,  unrationalizable  difference.  He  is  like  a 
man  who  opens  his  mouth  to  speak,  but  utters  what 
he  would  not,  and  cannot  utter  what  he  would.  We 
would  call  it  aphasia  and  construct  another  law. 
He  recognizes  that  God  has  created  for  him  other 
words  than  he  intended,  instead  of  the  words  he 
did  intend.  It  would  be  God's  creation  in  either 
case.  We  feel  vaguely  that  there  is  a  divine  event 
and  element  in  the  world,  but  it  is  far  off.  A  deep, 
and  for  our  experience,  impenetrable  shell  separates 
us  from  that  event  and  element.  That  shell,  we 
find,  is  subject  to  law;  we  can  depend  upon  its 
action  and  reaction.  We  have  never  pierced  beyond 
it,  and  are  tolerably  sure  that  we  never  shall;  that 
we  shall  always  find  it,  however  far  we  go;  that  it 
is  all  the  world  for  us.  But  to  the  Oriental,  this 
shell  is  the  merest  film.  The  strict  theologian  of 
Islam  would  tell  him  that  there  was  no  such  shell 
at  all;  that  aU  action  and  reaction  spring  from  the 
immediate  will  of  God.  This,  probably,  would  be 
too  hard  a  doctrine  for  the  wayfaring  man  in  Islam, 
but  he  is  very  well  assured  of  the  thinness  of  the 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD      9 

shell.  He  knows  that  the  supernatural  has  often 
peered  through  it  at  him.  Our  ghost-stories  and 
strange  experiences  are  everyday  things  for  him 
which  he  never  dreams  of  investigating,  for  he  never  • 
doubts  them.  Our  investigations  are  really  attempts 
to  bring  these  things  under  law;  at  that,  he  would 
simply  shrug  his  shoulders. 

This  being  so,  it  is  evident  that  anything  is  possible 
to  the  Oriental.  The  supernatural  is  so  near  that  it 
may  touch  him  at  any  moment.  There  is  no  sur- 
prise; and  therefore  there  is  need,  in  verification, 
of  a  small  test  only.  In  the  case  of  our  investigators 
of  occult  phenomena,  spiritism  and  the  like,  the 
trouble  is  that  no  test,  however  complete,  is  really 
enough.  There  must  be  something  wrong,  is  our 
attitude.  But  even  the  heathen  Arabs,  light  minded 
and  materialistic  as  they  were,  accepted  their  sooth- 
sayer, if  he  told  them  any  single  thing  which  they 
were  assured  he  could  not  know  of  himself.  That 
he  was  a  soothsayer  was  not  for  them  a  practically 
unthinkable  idea.  Give  them  good  evidence,  such 
as  they  would  accept  in  ordinary  life,  and  they  would 
accept  anything.  There  are  some  things  that  we, 
in  the  fetters  of  our  sense  of  law,  cannot  accept.  And 
when  the  Oriental  has  once  been  thus  touched,  once 
had  an  impulse,  however  mysterious,  in  a  certain 
direction,  there  may  be  no  limits  to  the  results. 
For  example,  it  has  been  a  favorite  subject  for 
argument,  about  it  and  about,  how  much  the  person- 


10    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

ality  of  Muhammad  had  to  do  in  the  Muslim  move- 
ment ;  how  much  Islam  is  his  individual  creation,  or 
merely  a  product  of  his  times  and  circumstances. 
The  fact  is,  I  suspect,  that  the  Arabs  were  just  in 
this  state  of  unstable  equilibrium.  His  personality 
was  strong  enough  to  convince  them — a  sufficient 
number,  at  least,  of  them — that  the  shell  had  broken 
and  the  supernatural  had  come  near.  Once  start, 
then,  the  idea  that  this  man  is  a  messenger  from 
God  and  that  his  words  are  the  words  of  God,  and 
the  oriental  mind  would  carry  it  out  to  its  utmost 
limits.  A  theory  of  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth 
would  be  developed  from  this  single  idea.  Other 
things  might  not  agree  with  it;  they  would  simply 
be  left  aside.  The  Oriental  feels  no  need  to  explain 
everything;  he  simply  ignores  the  incompatible; 
and  he  does  so  conscientiously,  for  he  sees  only  one 
thing  at  a  time.  This  is  not  deduction ;  it  is  eduction. 
The  idea  is  an  egg  from  which  a  complete  explana- 
tion of  life  is  hatched.  For  example,  once  given 
the  idea  of  Muhammad,  it  was  not  long  before  the 
Muslim  mind  reached  the  persuasion  that  he  must 
have  been  the  first  of  all  creatures,  created  before 
all  worlds,  existent  from  the  beginning  of  time — 
we  have  exactly  the  Arian  doctrine  of  the  person  of 
Christ.  Further,  the  fact  of  him  became  so  over- 
powering that  in  a  tradition  Allah  is  made  to  declare : 
"Had  it  not  been  for  thee,  I  had  not  created  the 
worlds." 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    II 

Inability,  then,  to  see  life  steadily,  and  see  it 
whole,  to  understand  that  a  theory  of  life  must  cover 
all  the  facts,  and  liability  to  be  stampeded  by  a 
single  idea  and  blinded  to  everything  else — therein, 
I  believe,  is  the  difference  between  the  East  and 
the  West. 

But  I  have  detained  you  too  long  over  my  own 
speculations,  uncertain  in  much,  probably  erroneous 
in  much.  The  certain  thing  in  it  all  is  the  thinness 
of  the  shell  which  separates  the  Oriental  from  the 
Unseen.  I  turn,  then,  to  the  standard  breakages  in 
that  shell,  which  Islam  recognizes. 

These  may  be  roughly  classified  as  follows,  though 
the  divisions,  I  fear,  will  be  found  often  to  cross: 
prophets,  diviners,  magic  and  talismans,  appear- 
ances of  the  Jinn,  dreams,  saints. 

First,  then,  prophets  and  prophecy.  Here  I  can 
begin  on  familiar  ground.  The  Hebrews,  a  Bedawi 
tribe  which  abandoned  the  desert  and  turned,  more 
or  less,  to  the  agricultural  life,  exhibit  the  essential 
characteristics  of  Arab  prophetism.  Nowhere  does 
their  unity  with  Arabia  come  out  more  strongly, 
and  yet  nowhere  is  the  essential  difference  of  the 
religiosity  of  the  Hebrews  more  marked.  Such  a 
figure  as  Elijah,  so  far,  at  least,  as  the  Old  Testa- 
ment has  preserved  for  us  his  legend,  must  have 
appeared  again  and  again  in  the  earlier  desert,  and 
certainly  did  among  the  saints  of  Islam.  The 
schools  of  Sons  of  the  Prophets  of  which  from  time 


12    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

to  time  we  have  fleeting  glimpses  can  be  exactly 

paralleled   by    the   darwish   fraternities    of   Islam. 

Their  relations  to  the  people,  their  ceremonies  and 

usages,    their    mode    of    life,    their    ecstasies    and 

religious   excitements,  were   evidently  precisely  the 

same.      The  soil,  in  a  word,  from  which  the  great 

prophets  sprang  was  alike  among  the  Hebrews  and 

the  Arabs. 

Let  me  illustrate  this  vital  matter  of  soil  and  the 

growth  therefrom  by  a  parallel  in  creative  literature. 

I  take  the  case  of  a  single  poet,  though  the  broad 

literature  of  a  whole  people   always  exhibits  the 

same  phenomena.     The  mind  of  Wordsworth  was 

a  constant  poetic  soil,  and  from  it  there  sprang  in 

luxuriant    and   bewildering   tangle    all   manner   of 

plants.     The  most  of  these  were  scrub  and  brush, 

underwood  often  commonplace  and  even  grotesque. 

There  only  a  small  coterie  of  sworn  worshipers  finds 

delight.     But  above  that  scrub  and  brush  there  rise, 

from  time  to  time,   great   trees,   glorious  in  their 

unique   and   tranquil  beauty   as   any  beneath   the 

sky  of  English  letters.     What  kindly  influences  there 

had   intervened  we   cannot   tell;    the  processes  of 

the  poet's  mind  are  as  mysterious  as  that  spirit  of 

the  Lord  which  leapt  upon  the  Hebrew  prophet. 

But  at  one  time,  as  one  has  said,  harshly  but  not 

untruly,  the  voice  of  Wordsworth  is  that 

of  an  old  half-witted  sheep, 
Which  bleats  articulate  monotony 
And  indicates  that  two  and  one  are  three. 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    13 

and  at  another,  and  that  in  a  flash,  the  very  heavens 
are  cloven  by  some  clear  creative  thought  clothed 
in  noble  words.  So  after  trivialities  of  college  life 
there  suddenly  rises  the  memory  of 

Newton  with  his  prism  and  silent  face, 
The  marble  index  of  a  mind  forever 
Voyaging  through  strange  seas  of  thought,  alone. 

Or  in  still  stranger  context  of  placid  commonplace 
there  is  struck,  one  of  the  half-dozen  times  in  all 
English  verse,  the  clear  faery  note, 

or  lady  of  the  mere, 
Lone  sitting  by  the  shores  of  old  romance. 

What  spirit  touched  Wordsworth  then,  we  know  not, 
but  we  do  know  that  some  relation  lay  between  his 
painful  crawlings  and  those  lofty  flights. 

So,  when  we  turn  from  the  common  soul  of  prophet- 
ism  to  the  great  Hebrew  prophets,  how  wide  is  the 
difference!  Isaiah — any  of  the  Isaiahs — rises  from 
the  howling,  frenzied  mob  of  nebhPtm;  of  them  and 
not  of  them.  He  could  have  part  in  their  orgies, 
yet  his  head  was  high  above  their  sensuous  fogs,  his 
brain  and  conscience  were  never  swept  away  by 
their  gusts  of  passionate  ecstasy.  So  Samuel  moved 
clear  eyed  through  the  turbid  airs  of  the  religious 
life  of  his  fellows.  He  and  his  like  had  seen  the 
Lord,  and  the  beauty  of  holiness  was  theirs.  In 
these  lectures,  I  shall  not  often  have  opportunity 
for  comparison,  still  less  for  apologetics.  Let  me 
seize  this  one  to  say,  as  fixedly  and  broadly  as  in  me 


14    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

is,  that,  while  the  soil  of  Semitic  prophecy  is  one, 
I  know  nowhere  in  the  Semitic  world  any  appearance 
like  that  of  the  great  prophets  of  the  Hebrews. 
They  stand  as  clear  from  their  soil  as  love  in  Chris- 
tian marriage  from  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the 
relation  is  much  the  same. 

In  Islam  some  few  attempted  the  same  heights, 
but  never  reached  them.  Muhammad,  a  figure 
now  strangely  sympathetic  and  attractive,  now 
repellently  weak,  once  and  again  in  his  early  life, 
has  touches  of  the  ethical  glory  of  Amos,  but  never 
saw  the  vision  of  love  in  Hosea.  In  his  later  life  he 
fell,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  judge  him.  Perhaps,  if 
Jeremiah  had  come  to  rule  with  absolute  sway  some 
small  but  conquering  remnant  of  Judah,  he,  too, 
might  have  fallen.  If  Isaiah,  from  wazir  in  Jeru- 
salem, had  come  to  be  sultan,  his  robes  might  have 
been  spotted  by  the  flesh  and  his  soul  by  ambition. 
But,  apart  entirely  from  the  last  unhappy  ten  years 
of  Muhammad's  life,  he  was  not  of  the  goodly 
fellowship  of  the  Hebrew  prophets. 

Al-Ghazzall,  I  have  mentioned  already.  He  was 
a  man  of  the  intellectual  rank  of  Augustine.  Yet 
he  was  himself  a  darwish,  and  had  part  in  their 
religious  exercises.  These  he  knew  with  sympathy, 
and  he  has,  in  a  treatise  which  I  have  translated 
elsewhere,^   applied  the  methods  of  science  to  the 

I  "Emotional  Religion  in  Islam,"  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic 
Society,  1901-2. 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    15 

analysis  of  their  emotional  and  theological  value. 
But  though  his  mind  was  probably  keener  than  that 
of  any  Hebrew,  and  though  the  root  of  the  matter 
was  in  him,  yet  no  one  can  mistake  the  difference  of 
atmosphere  in  his  writings  and  that  of  the  Old 
Testament.  In  the  latter  there  is  the  freshness  of 
life  and,  in  spite  of  everything,  of  hope;  he  is  an 
ascetic  scholastic,  and  all  his  endeavor  is  to  gain 
assurance  of  the  world  to  come.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  cause,  it  was  well  for  the  Hebrews  that 
they  were  not  blinded  to  the  facts  and  duties  of  this 
life  by  the  vision  of  another.  Islam,  like  mediaeval 
Europe,  could  think  of  nothing  but  the  unending 
hereafter  with  its  sharply  divided  weal  or  woe. 

Yet,  for  all  this,  the  soil  was  the  same,  and  from  it 
we  must  start.  But  here  we  are  landed  in  another 
question.  How  wide  was  that  soil  ?  How  much  of 
the  life,  thought,  emotional  output  and  literature, 
in  a  sense,  of  the  people,  is  to  be  included  in  this 
broad  prophetism  ?  Let  me  meet  this  with  another 
question.  How  is  it  that  we  do  not  find  in  the  ex- 
tant remains  of  Hebrew  literature  anything  but  the 
directly  or  indirectly  religious?  Further,  and  still 
more  incisively,  even  if,  by  a  strange  chance,  their 
profane  literature  has  all  been  lost — there  is  some 
tolerably  profane  still  in  the  Old  Testament— why 
is  there  almost  no  mention  of  poets  among  them? 
I  speak  subject  to  correction,  but  I  know  in  Hebrew 
no  unmistakable  word  for  poet;   mdshel  certainly  is 


1 6    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

not.  Did  they  classify  and  name  poets  in  some 
other  way?  put  them  in  some  other  category? 
Further,  they  did  have  stories,  current  among  the 
people,  of  their  heroic  age,  of  their  great  warriors 
and  deliverers.  What  were  the  channels  down 
which  these  passed  ?  Who  played  the  part  of  the 
wandering  gleemen,  scalds,  bards,  minstrels  of 
mediaeval  Europe  ?  That  there  were  such  we  can- 
not doubt.  The  desert  knows  them  to  this  day. 
May  I  hazard  another  questioning  answer?  Was 
their  part  taken  by  nebhPtm,  solitary  or  in  bands? 
Was  poetry  and  legend — production,  preservation, 
transmission— all  in  the  Schools  of  the  Prophets? 
This,  you  may  say,  is  as  absurd  as  to  bring  under 
one  hood  the  mendicant  friars  and  the  gleemen  of 
Europe.  Sometimes,  even  these  did  come  most 
queerly  together,  but  that  in  Christendom  was 
exceptional.  In  the  Semitic  world,  I  venture  to 
say,  it  was  the  rule,  and  for  the  desert  it  can  be 
proven. 

What  was  the  belief  of  the  ancient  Arabs  as  to 
the  nature  of  poetry,  and  what  their  attitude  toward 
the  person  of  the  poet?  Since  Ignaz  Goldziher's 
investigations,  published  in  his  Arahische  Philo- 
logie,  Part  I,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
answers  to  these  questions.  The  answers  which  the 
Arabic  sources  give  us  are  those,  too,  which  the 
analogy  of  other  primitive  peoples  would  suggest. 
Poetry  is  magical  utterance,  inspired  by  powers  from 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD   17 

the  Unseen,  and  the  poet  is  in  part  a  soothsayer,  in 
part  an  adviser  and  admonisher,  and  in  part  a  hurler 
of  magical  formulae  against  his  enemies.  The 
most  common  and  primitive  word  in  Arabic  for  poet 
is  shdHr  and  that  means  simply,  "he  who  perceives, 
knows."  In  meaning  it  is  parallel  to  the  Hebrew 
yiddi^ont,  but  that  Hebrew  word  never  passed  from 
the  idea  of  divination  to  that  of  poetic  utterance. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Hebrew  moshel,  which  in 
Arabic  suggests  only  proverb,  likeness,  parable, 
has  passed  over  to  mean  a  poet  of  a  special  type, 
the  utterer  of  reproach  and  malediction,  whose 
words  bear  sure  fruit.  In  Hebrew  history,  the  out- 
standing example  of  the  moshel  and  an  example  of 
the  Arabic  shdHr,  poet,  on  this  side  of  his  activity,  is 
the  remarkable  figure  of  Balaam.  So  in  the  Semitic 
world  the  bard  and  the  prophet  join.  Balaam  was 
evidently  thought  to  stand  in  some  very  real  relation 
to  the  unseen  world,  a  relation  which  gave  his 
words  supernatural  force — if  they  were  once  uttered 
and  not  checked  on  his  lips  by  a  higher  power;  the 
poet  of  the  Arabs  drew  his  knowledge,  wisdom,  skill, 
and  destroying  utterance  from  his  relationship  to  the 
Jinn,  those  beings  which  for  the  heathen  Arabs  were 
as  the  fauns,  nymphs,  and  satyrs  of  the  classical 
world,  which  often  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as 
simple  divinities  and  which  Islam  has  accepted  as  a 
class  of  created  beings  and  pictured  to  itself  partly 
as  Muslim,  partly  as  unbelieving,   and  partly  as 


1 8    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

diabolic  in  nature.     Such,  then,  is  the  situation  in  a 
nutshell. 

But  let  me  illustrate  in  detail.  A  good  example 
is  given  in  the  stories  told  about  Hassan  ibn  Thabit, 
a  close  personal  follower  of  Muhammad,  and,  in  a 
sense,  his  poet -laureate.  Muhammad  in  general 
was  opposed  to  poetry;  the  poets  were  mostly 
opposed  to  him;  but  Hassan  upheld  his  cause  with 
poetry  of  a  kind,  and  was  especially  useful  in  re- 
plying to  satirical  and  abusive  attacks.  But  this 
Hassan,  while  still  a  young  man  in  the  days  before 
Islam,  and  before  he  had  made  any  verses,  was 
initiated  into  poetry  by  a  female  Jinni.  She  met 
him  in  one  of  the  streets  of  Medina,  leapt  upon  him, 
pressed  him  down,  and  compelled  him  to  utter 
three  verses  of  poetry.  Thereafter  he  was  a  poet, 
and  his  verses  came  to  him  as  to  other  Arab  poets 
from  the  direct  inspiration  of  the  Jinn.  He  refers 
himself  to  his  "brothers  of  the  Jinn"  who  weave  for 
him  artistic  words,  and  tells  how  weighty  lines  have 
been  sent  down  to  him  from  heaven  in  the  night 
season.  The  curious  thing  is  that  the  expressions 
he  uses  are  exactly  those  used  of  the  "sending 
down,"  that  is,  revelation,  of  the  Qur^dn.  Evidently 
in  his  case  there  was  a  struggle  between  the  idea 
of  the  Jinn — those  half  or  wliolly  heathen  spirits — as 
inspirers  and  the  divine  inspirations  of  the  angels. 

Further,  the  story  runs  that  Muhammad  used  to 
set  up  for  him  a  pulpit  in  the  mosque  and  stand  by 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    19 

in  evident  enjoyment,  while  Hassan  hurled  from  it 
stinging  verses  against  the  enemies  of  Islam.  This 
was  one  of  the  few  occasions  on  which  Muhammad 
seems  to  have  tolerated  poetry,  and  his  reported 
comment  is  significant,  ''Allah  aids  Hassan  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  so  long  as  he  is  defending  or  boasting 
of  the  Apostle  of  God."  But  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
here,  you  must  not  understand  any  conception  like 
that  of  the  third  person  of  the  Christian  trinity. 
For  Muhammad  the  phrase  referred  only  to  the 
angel  messenger  who  brought  to  him  his  revela- 
tions. The  theological  consequences  of  the  lack 
of  the  conception  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and 
Giver  of  Life,  in  Islam  were  wide,  but  this  is  not 
the  place  to  enter  upon  them.  Here  Muhammad 
simply  ascribed  to  Hassan  the  same  kind  of  inspira- 
tion that  he  had  himself,  and  that  is  remarkable 
enough. 

Another  point  to  observe  is  the  close  parallel 
between  the  terms  used  in  the  story  of  Hassan's 
initiation  and  that  of  the  first  revelation  to  Muham- 
mad. Just  as  Hassan  was  thrown  down  by  the 
female  spirit  and  had  verses  pressed  out  of  him,  so 
the  first  utterances  of  prophecy  were  pressed  from 
Muhammad  by  the  angel  Gabriel.  And  the  resem- 
blances go  still  farther.  The  angel  Gabriel  is 
spoken  of  as  the  companion  (qann)  of  Muhammad, 
just  as  though  he  were  the  Jinni  accompanying  a 
poet,  and  the  same  word,  najatha^  "blow  upon," 


20    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

is  used  of  an  enchanter,  of  a  Jinnl  inspiring  a  poet 
and  of  Gabriel  revealing  to  Muhammad.  It  was, 
of  course,  the  nightmare  of  Muhammad's  earlier 
years — a  fear  of  his  own  and  an  accusation  of  his 
enemies — that  he  was  simply  a  poet  possessed  by  a 
Jinni;  it  dictated  his  whole  attitude  to  poets  and 
poetry,  and  it  is  very  plain  how  near  the  fact  the 
fear  and  the  accusation  lay.     He  was  in  truth  a  poet  f 

'  of  the  old  Arab  type,  without  skill  of  verse,  and  with 
all  his  being  given  to  the  prophetic  side  of  poetry. 
Add  to  this  a  strange  jumble  of  Jewish  and  Christian 

/  conceptions,  and  you  have  the  key  to  Muhammad.  \ 
I  need  not  go  into  detail  of  the  many  stories  told 
of  the  intercourse  between  poets  and  their  inspiring 
spirits:  how  a  poet  would  sit  helpless  without  an 
idea,  until  his  ''comrade"  would  call  to  him  from  the 
corner  of  the  chamber;  how  another,  in  desperate 
need,  saddled  his  camel,  rode  off  into  the  desert,  and 
having  come  to  a  certain  place,  alighted  and  cried 
out,  ''Come  to  the  aid  of  your  brother,  your 
brother!"  how  the  aid  came  swiftly,  the  poet  lay 
down,  and  did  not  rise  until  he  had  one  hundred  and 
thirteen  lines.  Of  such  stories,  which  later  came 
to  be  told  in  jest,  there  are  many. 

But  can  we  draw  the  connection  closer  between 
the  poet  and  the  prophet ;  and  especially  between  the 
Arabs  and  the  Hebrews  ?  You  will  remember  how 
we  are  told  in  Numbers  9:18,  23,  that  the  children 
of  Israel  broke  up  camp  and  encamped  according 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    21 

to  the  word  of  Yahwe  at  the  hand  of  Moses.  Through 

Moses,  that  is,  came  the  guidance  of  Yahwe  for  these 

significant  elements  in  the  nomad  life,  the  right  time 

and  place  for  encamping  and  departing.     Now  it 

is  curious  that  among  the  old  Arab  tribes  exactly  the 

same  place  was  taken  by  the  poets,  the  shdHrs. 

For  instance,  of  Zuhayr  ibn  Janab,  the  poet,  it  is 

narrated : 

Whenever  Zuhayr  said,  "Ho,  the  tribe  journeyeth,"  then 
it  journeyed;  and  whenever  he  said,  ''Ho,  the  tribe  abideth," 
they  aHghted  and  abode. 

Similarly  we  are  told  of  others. 
Here  are  guidances  cast  in  solemn  formulas : 
When  Allah  sent  the  breaking  of  the  dam  of  ^Arim  on  the 
people  of  Marib,  which  was  the  tribe  of  Azd,  there  arose 
their  leader  and  said,  "Whoever  has  a  sufficient  camel  and  a 
milk-skin  and  a  strong  water  skin,  let  him  turn  from  the 
herds  of  cattle,  for  this  is  a  day  of  care,  and  let  him  betake 
himself  to  Ath-thinyu  min  shann — it  is  said  to  be  in  ash- 
Shara,  and  those  who  settled  there  were  Azd  of  Shanu<^a; 
then  he  continued,  "And  whoever  is  in  misery  and  poverty 
and  patience  against  the  straits  of  this  world,  let  him  betake 
himself  to  Batn  Marr" — those  who  dwelt  there  were  the 
tribe  Khuza<=a;  then  he  continued,  "  And  who  of  you  desireth 
wine  and  leaven,  and  rule  and  government  and  brocade  and 
silk,  let  him  betake  himself  to  Busra  and  al-Hufayr" — these 
are  in  the  land  of  Syria  and  those  who  dwelt  there  were  the 
tribe  of  Ghassan;  then  he  continued,  "and  who  of  you 
hath  far-aiming  purpose  and  a  strong  camel  and  a  new 
provender-sack,  let  him  betake  himself  to  the  New  Castle  of 
cUman" — those  who  settled  there  were  Azd  of  ^Uman;  then 
he  continued,   "And  who  desireth  things  rooted  in  mud  and 


22    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

nourished  of  dust,  let  him  betake  himself  to  Yathrib,  rich  in 
palm  trees" — those  who  settled  there  were  the  tribes  of  Aws 
and  Khazraj.^ 

All  this  is  in  the  solemn  language  of  rhymed 
prose,  the  language  of  the  soothsayers,  and  the 
leader  divides  his  people  in  a  scene  not  unlike  that 
of  the  blessing  of  Jacob  or  of  Moses.  You  will 
notice,  too,  how  the  narrator  weaves  in  notes  exactly 
in  the  style  of  Deuteronomy. 

Still  more  in  the  tone  of  these  Blessings  is  a  narra- 
tive that  has  come  down  to  us  of  the  part  played  by 
Sawda  bint  Zuhra,  the  Prophetess,  or  Kahina,  of  her 
tribe,  that  of  Quraysh,  in  prophesying  the  birth  of  the 
future  Warner  of  his  people.  She  bade  them  bring 
to  her  all  their  daughters,  "For,"  said  she,  "one  of 
them  is  a  woman-warner,  and  will  bear  a  man- 
warner."  As  they  passed  before  her,  she  uttered 
over  each  a  saying,  the  truth  of  which  time  showed, 
until  Amina,  the  future  mother  of  Muhammad 
appeared  and  was  shown  as  the  warner  spoken  of.* 

But  to  return — Such  a  poet  as  speaks  here  is 
called  the  leader  (qdPid)  of  his  tribe.  Another 
boasts  himself  to  Muhammad  as  their  poet  and 
representative.  To  another  his  tribe  intrusted  all 
its  warlike  undertakings.  Another  tribe  rejected 
the  warning  of  their  poet,  just  as  the  Hebrews  those 
of  their  prophets,  and  repented    it.     Here  is  his 

1  Aghani,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  95. 

2  Damiri,  Vol.  II,  p.  328,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  H.  13 13. 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    23 

speech,  and  you  will  observe  how  closely  its  tone 

resembles  that  of  a  prophecy : 

Go  not  in  against  the  Banu  '^Amir;  I  of  men  know  best  of 
them.  I  have  fought  with  them,  and  they  have  fought 
with  me;  I  have  overcome  them  and  they  have  overcome 
me.  I  never  saw  a  people  more  restless  in  a  halting-place 
than  the  Banu  <^Amir.  By  Allah,  I  can  find  no  likeness  to 
them  but  Bravery  itself,  for  they  abide  not  in  their  hole  for 
restlessness,  and  will  surely  come  out  to  you.  By  Allah,  if 
ye  sleep  this  night,  ye  will  not  know  when  they  descend 
upon  you. 

Of  the  poet  sitting  as  judge  like  Samuel,  Dr. 
Goldziher  can  quote  no  case  from  heathen  Arabia. 
But  that  certainly  is  due  to  our  very  defective  sources. 
It  must  be  regarded  as  significant  that  in  very  early 
Muslim  times,  the  poet  al-Akhtal,  though  a  Christian, 
sat  in  the  mosque  of  his  tribe  as  judge.  Evidently 
this  points  at  once  to  old  pre-Muslim  custom,  and  to 
a  religious  authority  and  dignity  encircling  the  poet. 

We  must  not,  therefore,  think  of  the  poet  as  being 
given  this  position  by  any  respect  for  the  beauty  or 
vigor  of  his  verses,  or  even  for  his  human  insight 
and  wisdom  in  matters  of  tribal  conduct  and  politics. 
The  idea  that  the  Arab  tribes  so  respected  their 
poets — in  the  first  instance  at  least — because  of  their 
keen  artistic  sense,  their  appreciation  of  the  beauties 
of  poetry,  must  be  given  up.  Their  attitude  was 
much  more  practical.  The  separateness  of  the 
poet  from  other  men  had  struck  them.  So,  too, 
had  the  way  in  which  his  verses  came  to  him,  out 


24    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

of  the  sky  apparently,  apart  from  his  labor  and 
will.  We  must  remember  that  the  Arab  poet  was 
a  lyrist,  first  and  last;  intensely  subjective  and  per- 
sonal as  regarded  both  himself  and  his  hearers. 
When  he  sang  before  the  tribe  on  the  day  of  battle 
and  onset,  it  was  as  though  a  spirit  sang  through 
him.  When  he  brooded  in  the  council  and  then 
suddenly  arose  and  flung  out  his  judgment  in  clang- 
ing words  and  ringing  rhymes,  it  was  as  the  utter- 
ance of  a  god.  From  time  to  time,  too,  in  the 
intense  nervous  susceptibility  of  the  Arab  race  in 
the  keen  desert  air,  there  fell  upon  him  cataleptic 
rigors,  swoons,  and  dreams,  from  which  he  returned 
with  strange  words  in  his  mouth.  If  any  could 
hear  or  see  the  Jinn  in  the  desert  stillness  and  solitude, 
or  in  the  dark  recesses  of  the  mountains,  it  would 
be  he  with  his  strained  nerves  and  loaded  imagina- 
tion. Often,  as  to  Socrates,  his  own  decision  must 
have  come  as  with  a  voice  from  without,  and  it 
would  take  little  to  add  a  visible  form.  This  night - 
side  of  human  nature,  in  which  the  nerves  and  the 
senses  conspire  to  mislead,  is  only  gradually  being 
cleared  to  us,  but  we  know  enough  of  its  possibili- 
ties to  see  fully  how  the  Arabs  thought  their  poets 
were  illumined  from  the  Unseen,  and  could  make 
little  if  any  distinction  between  them  and  diviners 
and  prophets. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Arabic  writers  on  these  old 
things   are   put   to   it   to   distinguish   between  the 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    25 

shdHr,  "poet,"  as  we  have  called  him,  the  kdhin  or 
diviner,  and  the  ^arrdf,  also  a  kind  of  diviner.  All 
were  supernaturally  guided,  but  the  last  was  on  the 
lowest  step.  He  told — again  like  Samuel — about 
stolen  things,  and  where  wandered  beasts  might  be 
found.  Curiously  enough  we  find  him  consulted, 
too,  as  a  physician;  perhaps  with  thought  of  the  lost 
or  stolen  health.  The  kdhin  foretold  the  future  and 
secret  things  generally.  He  was  limited  mostly  to  a 
certain  sanctuary — you  will  remember,  of  course, 
that  kdhin  is  exactly  the  Hebrew  kohen,  "priest" — 
and  there  he  had  to  be  consulted.  He  was,  as  Gold- 
ziher,  following  Wellhausen,  well  puts  it,  an  institu- 
tion. The  shdHr,  on  the  other  hand,  was  free.  He 
was  the  counselor  of  his  people,  and  his  counsel 
was  inspired  from  the  Unseen,  by  the  Jinn,  exactly 
as  was  the  case  with  the  others.  But  he  was  also 
a  man  and  a  warrior,  free  as  the  desert,  and  bound 
to  no  sacred  shrine,  no  Urim  and  Thummim.  Not 
only  wisdom  came  to  him  but  words,  beautiful  or 
fiery  and  terrible;  which  could  give  life  or  death 
by  a  mysterious  power  in  them,  but  also  give  delight 
by  their  sheer  loveliness.  And  this  belief  long  sur- 
vived the  coming  of  Islam.  The  oriental  poet  can- 
not rid  himself  of  the  faith  that  verses  come  from 
without.  His  method  is  inspirational,  not  that  of 
the  labor  of  the  file.  If  he  is  a  religious  man,  a 
hdtif,  a  wandering  voice,  the  Hebrew  bath  qol,  will 
reach  him,  or  he  may  have  an  interview  even  with 


26    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

al-Khadir,  that  undying  wandering  saint,  the  most 
picturesque  figure  in  Muslim  mythology,  who  jour- 
neys through  the  earth,  rescuing,  guiding,  coun- 
seling. Even  as  late  as  the  seventh  Muslim  century 
we  find  a  Hanbalite  theologian,  the  narrowest  sect 
of  all,  arguing  that  the  Qur^dn  must  be  uncreated, 
for  otherwise  it  would  be  no  better  than  poetry  with 
which  God,  as  is  accepted,  inspires  the  poet.  But 
if  the  poet  were  not  a  religious  man,  or  if  the  attitude 
to  all  poetry  were  hostile,  then  its  inspiration  was 
easy  to  seek  elsewhere.  The  Jinn  and  the  devils 
have  become  hopelessly  confused  in  Islam,  and  we 
can  never  be  sure  whether  with  the  word  shaytdn, 
"devil,"  an  Arabic  writer  means  the  personal  evil 
spirit  borrowed  from  Christianity  and  Judaism,  or 
merely  a  malignant  member  of  the  Jinn.  So  it  was 
easy  to  say  that  the  inspiration  of  poetry  was  from 
the  devil,  and  even  to  brand  all  poetry  as  the  Qur^dn 
of  the  devil. 

But  all  that  was  long  after  our  period,  and  we 
must  go  back  to  the  winged  words  of  the  old  Arab 
poets.  Our  connection  with  Balaam  is  not  yet 
absolutely  made  out,  but  it  must  be  beginning  to 
sweep  before  you.  It  is  well  known  how  among 
primitive  peoples  there  has  always  been  supposed 
to  lie  in  words  a  certain  fetish-power.  Words  for 
them  are  things;  they  are  strict  realists.  So  the 
curse  once  spoken  is  an  existent  entity,  which  must 
strike  and  rest  somewhere;    if  not  the  one  against 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    27 

whom  it  is  hurled,  then  the  hurler  himself.  In 
Islam  this  has  endured  longer  than  anywhere  else. 
I  doubt  whether  in  the  scholastic  theology  of  any 
other  people  you  could  find  passages  like  the  fol- 
lowing : 

When  two  men  curse  one  another,  the  curse  falls  on  him 
who  deserves  it;  if  neither  deserves  it,  then  it  returns  and 
falls  upon  the  Jews,  who  conceal  what  God  has  revealed. 

And  again: 

When  a  curse  is  sent  against  any  one,  it  goes  toward  him, 
and  if  it  finds  access  to  him  it  goes  in  unto  him.  But  if  it 
finds  no  access,  it  returns  to  its  Lord,  whose  are  Might  and 
Majesty,  and  says  "O  my  Lord,  so  and  so  sent  me  against 
so  and  so,  but  I  find  no  access  to  him;  so  what  dost  thou 
command  me?"  He  then  says,  "Return  whither  thou 
camest." 

But  all  this  is  only  a  reduction  to  scheme  and 
method  of  a  belief  which  Islam,  from  the  first,  has 
held  unshaken,  and  before  Islam  the  earlier  Semitic 
faiths.  It  meets  us  amongst  the  Hebrews;  there 
the  story  of  Balaam  is  unmistakable.  And  in  early 
Arabia  it  was  the  custom  that  the  poet  of  a  tribe,  on 
the  day  of  battle,  should  advance  and  recite  satirical 
and  abusive  verses  against  the  opponents.  This  was 
not  simply  to  hearten  his  own  tribe,  or  to  strike  with 
shame  and  confusion  the  other.  There  was  a  magi- 
cal power  in  his  words,  and  they  show  the  traces 
often,  as  preserved  in  the  dlwdns  of  the  greater  poets, 
of  simple  cursing. 


28    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Similarly,  among  the  Hebrews,  Goliath  mocked 
and  ridiculed  Qiereph)  the  armies  of  Israel.  In  all 
this  it  was  a  spirit  which  had  entered  the  poet,  and 
which  spoke  through  him.  Hence  the  magical  efficacy 
of  his  words ;  he  was  only  the  channel  of  communi- 
cation along  which  the  unseen  world  worked.  Ges- 
tures, too,  and  symbols  often  aided.  So  long  as  the 
hands  of  Moses  were  upheld,  even  mechanically, 
the  Israelites  prevailed  against  Amalek.  In  later 
Muslim  times  certain  poets  came  to  have  the  repu- 
tation of  possessing  peculiarly  unlucky  tongues. 
Whom  they  cursed,  some  misfortune  befel;  and 
we  have  even  traces  of  their  using  for  the  purpose 
certain  symbolic  actions  and  methods  of  dress. 

I  have  now,  I  think,  made  tolerably  clear  the 
Semitic  belief  that  the  poet  was  inspired — was  a 
vates,  in  short — and  that  his  poem,  or  rather  song, 
was  a  carmen,  a  charm.  For  further  details  I  would 
refer  you  to  the  epoch-making  paper  of  Dr.  Goldzi- 
her,  which  I  have  already  used.  Whether  you  will 
follow  me  in  my  further  explanation  of  the  absence 
of  definite  references  to  poets  and  poetry  in  the 
Hebrew  literature — that  they  are  swept  into  the 
general  category  of  prophecy  and  prophets — does 
not  greatly  matter  for  my  present  object.  That 
poetry  and  prophecy,  for  the  early  Arabs  and  He- 
brews, both  go  back  to  inspiration  from  the  Unseen, 
and  are,  for  many  purposes,  a  practical  unit,  I  now 
take  for  granted. 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    29 

Before  dealing  directly  with  the  position  of  the 
prophet  among  the  Arabs  and  in  Islam,  it  may  be  in 
place  here  to  take  up  the  kdhin,  or  soothsayer.  As  I 
have  already  said,  this  word  is  the  exact  linguistic 
equivalent  for  the  Hebrew  kohen,  and — without 
entering  on  the  vexed  questions  which  lie  round  that 
word — I  would  only  remind  you  that  Potiphar, 
Jethro,  and  David's  sons  are  all  called  kohens  in  the 
Old  Testament.  In  Arabia  the  matter  is  much 
simpler.  The  kdhins  were  soothsayers,  connected 
with  a  sanctuary,  or  sometimes  with  a  tribe,  and 
played  much  the  same  part  as  Eli  and  Samuel  at 
Shiloh.  All  mysterious  and  obscure  things  seem  to 
have  been  referred  to  them.  They  were  judges,  but 
they  also  foretold  the  future  and  the  Unseen.  How 
real  this  was  to  the  Arabs  of  Muhammad's  time  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  he  felt  compelled  to  admit 
their  foreknowledge,  if  only  in  part,  and  to  ascribe 
that  part — in  agreement,  probably,  with  Arab  be- 
lief— to  the  help  of  the  Jinn. 

But  what  in  them  most  claims  our  attention  is  the 
invariable  form  of  their  utterance,  which  was  the 
form  of  utterance,  also,  of  all  mysterious  knowledge 
limited  to  a  narrow  circle,  and  professionally  guarded. 
As  the  Greek  oracles  were  couched  in  verse,  so  the 
oracles  of  the  Arab  kdhins  were  cast  in  that  prim- 
itive verse  which  was  called  saj^,  literally  "pigeon- 
cooing."  You  will  remember  in  Isaiah  (8:19)  how 
the  Yidde^dntm  chirp  and  mutter.    The  word  there 


30    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

for  "mutter"  (hdgd)  is  used  also  of  the  cooing  of  the 
pigeon,  and  there  seems  little  question  that  we  have 
an  allusion  to  a  similar  phenomenon.  This  saf, 
which  has  now  become  the  normal  rhetorical  form 
of  language  in  Islam,  consists  essentially  of  a  series 
of  short  phrases  in  prose — that  is  without  fixed  meter, 
but  it  may  be  with  rhythm — all  rhyming  together. 
Reduce  the  rhythm  to  rule,  and  monorhymed  verse 
appears;  take  away  the  rhymes,  and  you  have  more 
or  less  rhythmical  prose.  This  rhymed  prose,  then, 
was  the  essential  characteristic  of  the  speech  of  the 
kdhins,  and  is  evidently  a  very  elementary  first 
feeling-out  toward  verse.  You  will  remember  that 
it  appears  from  time  to  time  in  Hebrew.  Riddles 
and  the  like  are  cast  in  it;  and  some  long  pas- 
sages, such  as  Job,  chap.  lo,  and  Proverbs,  chap. 
31,  exhibit  monorhyme,  though  incompletely.  But 
among  the  Hebrews,  there  is  no  such  limitation  of  it 
to  messages  dealing  with  the  mysterious  and  the 
Unseen,  as  we  find  among  the  Arabs  at  the  time  of 
Muhammad  and  immediately  before.  With  the 
Hebrews  it  appears  to  be  simply  a  literary  form;  if 
we  may  speak  of  literature,  where  there  need  not  be 
letters.  Among  the  Arabs  poetical  form  had  fully 
developed,  with  all  its  wealth  of  meters,  and  the 
primitive  saj^  survived  as  the  vehicle  of  only  the 
most  primitive  modes  of  poetry,  the  shamanistic 
utterances  of  the  kdhins.  But  that  this  saf,  in  those 
early  days,  was  fully  recognized  as  a  form  of  poetry 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    31 

(shi'^)  and  not  as  such  a  separate  literary  form  as  it 
came  to  be  in  later  Islam  is  perfectly  clear. 

The  reason  for  this  brings  us  at  once  to  Muham- 
mad. What  are  we  to  think  of  him  as  a  literary 
artist  ?  To  what  form  of  literary  art  current  in 
his  time  did  he  fall  heir  ?  The  answer  is  very 
simple,  and  will  at  once  come  to  any  one  who  reads 
a  few  lines  of  the  Qur^dn,  especially  of  its  older 
portions.  The  Qur^dn  is  written  in  rhymed  prose 
throughout.  The  portions  rhymed,  verses  as  we 
may  call  them,  vary  greatly  in  length.  In  the 
earlier  chapters  these  verses  are  short,  just  as  the 
style  is  living  and  fiery;  in  the  later  chapters  they 
are  of  lumbering  length,  prosaic  and  slow,  and  the 
rhyme  comes  in  with  often  a  most  absurd  effect. 
It  is  very  plain  that  Muhammad's  first  utterances 
were  in  genuine  kdhin  form  and  kdhin  spirit;  that 
they  boiled  forth  from  him  as  though  under  uncon- 
trollable external  pressure.  Here  is  a  curious  nar- 
rative from  the  heathen  times  which  gives  an  excel- 
lent picture  of  a  kdhin  under  prophetic  influence. 

King  Hujr,  the  father  of  the  great  pre-Islamic 
poet,  Imr  al-Qays,  had  grievously  oppressed  the 
Banu  Asad  and  driven  them  from  their  territory. 
The  author  of  the  Aghdnl,  an  immense  collection  of 
pre-Islamic  and  early  post-Islamic  history,  legend 
and  song,  then  goes  on  thus  in  his  life  of  Imr  al- 
Qays  (Vol.  VIII,  66) : 

Then  the  Banu  Asad  advanced  until,  when  they  were  a 


32    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

day's  journey  from  Tihama,  their  Kahin,  who  was  <:Awf  ibn 
Rabi%  prophesied  and  said  unto  them,  "O  my  servants!" 
They  said,  "With  thee!  O  our  Lord!"  He  said,  "Who  is 
the  king,  the  ruddy  one,  the  all-conqueror,  the  unconquered, 
among  camels  as  if  they  were  a  herd  of  gazelles,  with  no 
clamor  by  his  head  ?  He !  his  blood  is  scattered  wide !  He, 
tomorrow,  is  the  first  of  the  stripped  and  spoiled !"  They  said, 
"Who  is  it,  O  our  Lord?"  He  said,  "If  my  heaving  soul 
were  not  disquieted,  I  would  tell  you  that  he  is  Hujr  openly." 
Then  they  mounted  all,  every  beast  broken  and  unbroken, 
and  the  day  had  not  risen  upon  them  when  they  came  upon 
the  army  of  Hujr,  and  charged  upon  his  tent. 

The  story  goes  on  how  the  words  of  the  kdhin 
were  fulfilled  to  the  letter,  but  we  have  no  further 
interest  with  that.  Our  point  is  the  manner  and 
tone  of  this  prophecy.  The  word  which  I  have 
rendered,  ''he  prophesied,"  takahhana,  means,  "a 
prophetic  fit  came  upon  him;"  it  is  evident  that 
he,  for  the  time,  was  out  of  himself.  The  form  of 
his  utterance  is  the  rhymed  prose  (saf)  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  the  language  peculiar  to  the  ecstatic 
life.  He  speaks,  you  will  notice,  to  the  people,  not 
as  their  fellow,  but  directly  as  their  God;  they  are 
his  "servants,"  strictly  ''slaves."  They  reply  with 
the  formula  used  only  to  a  God,  "With  thee  1  O  our 
Lord!"  Labbayka  yd  rahhand.  The  phenomena  of 
the  double  personality  are  most  curious.  At  one 
moment  his  voice  is  the  direct  voice  of  God;  at 
another,  he  is  hampered  by  his  laboring  and  dis- 
quieted human  soul.  The  metaphor  is  of  boiling 
water  and  high-running  waves. 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    33 

Now,  all  this  is  exactly  paralleled  in  Muhammad's 
early  utterances.  They  form  pictures  like  this,  and 
they  are  as  if  spoken  by  Allah  himself.  And  his 
later  utterances  were  cast  in  this  form  only  because 
he  had  begun  in  it.  That  was  the  way  in  which 
prophets  gave  forth  their  message;  he  had  begun 
in  that  way,  and  must  keep  it  up  to  the  bitter  end. 
Probably,  if  Muhammad  had  been  in  a  state  to 
realize  from  the  first,  all  that  was  implied  in  the  use 
of  this  form  he  would  have  done  anything  rather 
than  use  it.  It  identified  him  at  once  with  the 
kdhins  as  a  class,  and,  as  one  possessed  by  a  Jinni — 
so  only  could  his  contemporaries  explain  him — 
connected  him  directly  with  the  old  Arabian  heathen- 
ism and  polytheism  from  which  he  was  striving  to 
break  loose.  But  the  spirit  came  upon  him  in  his 
hours  of  weakness  and  solitude,  and  naturally  the 
form  which  it  took  and  its  manifestations  were  those 
characteristic  of  appearances  and  workings  from 
the  Unseen  in  the  world  of  his  time.  That  he  was 
subject  to  fits  of  some  kind  can  be  open  to  no  doubt. 
The  narratives  are  too  precise,  and  his  own  fears 
too  evidently  genuine.  That  he  was  possessed  by  a 
Jinni — for  him,  with  his  beliefs,  an  evil  spirit — was 
his  first  thought,  and  only  gradually  did  he  come  to 
the  conviction  that  this  was  divine  inspiration,  and 
not  diabolical  obsession. 

But  it  is  plain  that  these  seizures,  to  which  he  was 
liable,  and  his  general  condition  puzzled  him  to  the 


34    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

end.  When  he  had  worked  out  the  practical  con- 
clusion that  they  were  the  means  of  divine  inspiration, 
he  continued  to  be  interested  in  allied  phenomena. 
In  part  he  was  driven  to  this.  For  example,  he  had 
to  explain  how  the  kdhins  were  sometimes  right  in 
their  predictions.  But  one  very  singular  group  of 
traditions  shows  him  puzzling  over  the  case  of  a 
Jewish  boy  named  Ibn  Sayyad,  who  exhibited 
exactly  the  same  phenomena  as  he  himself.  Nat- 
urally the  subject  is  obscure  in  the  extreme;  the 
traditionists  have  no  liking  for  it.  But  on  that 
very  account  these  narratives  may  be  taken  as 
genuine.  The  boy  had  just  attained  to  puberty, 
i.  e.,  was  some  twelve  or  thirteen  years  old.  He  was 
liable  to  epileptic  or  cataleptic  fits,  and  in  these  was 
wrapped  up  in  a  rough  mantle^  and  lay  muttering 
to  himself.  In  this  way  he  was  supposed  to  have 
revelations,  and  appears  to  have  been  regarded  by 
the  Jews  of  al-Madlna  as  a  prophet  of  their  own. 
One  tradition  is  that  Muhammad  met  him  playing 
with  other  boys,  struck  him  on  the  back  with  his 
hand,  and  said,  "Dost  thou  testify  that  I  am  the 
messenger  of  God  ?"  He  looked  at  him  and  said, 
"I  testify  that  thou  art  the  messenger  of  the  Gen- 
tiles." Then  he  continued,  ''I  testify  that  I  am 
the  messenger  of  God."  Muhammad  struck  him 
to  bruising,^  and  then  said,  ''I  believe  in  God  and 

1  Cf.  Qur.  Ixxiii,  Ixxiv. 

2  The  word  is  uncertain;    cf.  Goldziher,  Muhammedanische 
Stiidien,  Vol.  II,  244. 


D 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    35 

his   messengers."     Then  to   Ibn   Sayyad,     "What 
dost  thou  see  ?"     He  replied,   "There  comes  to  me 
a  truth-teller  and  a  liar."     Muhammad  said,  "The 
matter  is  confused  to  thee."      Then  he  went  on, 
"I  conceal  from  thee  something."'     The  boy  said, 
"It  is  ad-dukh.'^     Muhammad  was  thinking  of  his 
chapter  of  the  QurHn,  Ad-dukhdn,  "The  Smoke," 
and  this  answer  came  too  close.     So  he  replied, 
"Get  away;    thou  wilt  never  exceed  thy  power." 
<^Umar  asked  permission  to  strike  off  his  head,  but 
Muhammad   refused   and  said,  "If    it  is  he,  then 
thou  hast  no  power  over  him,  and  if  it  is  not  he, 
there  is    no  good  to  thee   in   slaying    him."     The 
question  was  whether  he  was  the  Jewish  Antichrist 
or  not,   and  Muhammad    could  not  make  up  his 
mind.     On  another  occasion,  Muhammad  tried  to 
catch  him  unawares  in  one  of  his  fits.    He  went 
out  to  the  palm  grove  where  the  boy  was  and  hid 
himself  behind  the  palm  stems  to  listen.     The  boy 
was  lying  on   his  side,  wrapt  in   the  mantle,  out 
of   which    a    murmuring    came.      But    the    boy's 
mother  caught  sight  of  Muhammad,  and    warned 
her  son,  who  ceased.     Apparently,  he  was  able  to 
shake  off  the  fit  at  once.     But  Muhammad  was 
much  displeased;    "If    she  had  let  him  alone,  the 
thing  would  have  been  cleared  up."^ 

1  Apparently   the   formula    for   testing   a   soothsayer   before 
accepting  his  advice;   cf.  pp.  4  and  9. 

2  Sahih  of  al-Bukharl,  Vol.  VHI,  p.  40  (Book  of  Adah),  edition 
of  Bulaq,  A.  h.  1315. 


36    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

There  is  humor  enough  in  this  picture  of  one 
prophet  trying  to  investigate  another  after  the 
method  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  but 
for  the  boy  it  was  not  a  humorous  situation.  Mu- 
hammad apparently  satisfied  himself  that  he  was 
not  dangerous.  He  became  a  Muslim  and  was  alive 
in  the  year  6^  of  the  Hijra.  But  all  his  life  this 
suspicion  followed  him,  and  though  one  of  his  sons 
handed  down  traditions  which  are  accepted^  he 
himself  was  ostracised.  The  poet  al-Farazdaq  took 
refuge  once  at  al-Madina,  and  unwittingly  entered 
the  house  of  Ibn  Sayyad;  he  found  that  the  people 
would  have  no  dealings  with  him.^'  Other  tradi- 
tions^ show  him  complaining  of  this,  and  pointing 
out  that  he  was  a  Muslim,  with  children,  living 
both  in  al-Madina  and  Mecca — none  of  these  things 
being  possible  in  the  Antichrist.  But  others,  again, 
show  him  with  a  certain  malicious  sense  of  his  own 
importance,  and  fond  of  scaring  people.  His  dis- 
eased personality — without  Muhammad's  genius — ■. 
is  made  very  distinct. 

To  return  to  Muhammad,  it  is  plain,  as  I  said,  that 
he  recognized  here  phenomena  similar  to  his  own, 
but  was  gradually  satisfied  that  no  danger  lay  in 
them,  however  they  were  to  be  explained. 

So,  while  the  general  vocabulary  as  to  his  revela- 

I  Nawawl,  p.  789. 

3  Aghdnl,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  25. 

3  Ma§abih,  Vol.  II,  p.  140,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  H.  13 18. 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    37 

tions  was  borrowed  from  that  used  in  describing  how 
their  knowledge  came  to  the  kdhins,  it  had  to  be 
made  very  clear  that  the  influence  upon  him  was  an 
angel  or  even  the  Holy  Spirit— for  him  a  convertible 
term— of  all  which  the  Christians  and  Jews  spoke. 
But,  in  spite  of  his  utmost  endeavors  to  emphasize 
this  distinction,  his  opponents  called  him  a  poet— 
evidently  thinking  not  of  the  later  artistic  poet  who 
wrote  verses  in  correct  meter,  of  which  Muham- 
mad by  nature  was  absolutely  incapable,  but  of  the 
ecstatic  poet  who  stood  in  relations  with  the  Unseen; 
or  they  called  him  possessed  of  a  Jinni,  on  the  same 
idea;  or,  which  was  striking  the  closest  of  all,  a 
kdhin,  soothsayer.  He  was  a  kdhin,  but  with  an 
enormous  difference,  the  difference  which  separated 
what  I  have  called  the  soil  of  prophetism  among  the 
Hebrews,  the  mass  of  nebhPtm  with  their  ecstatic 
excitements  without  ethical  content  or  clear  religious 
ideas,  from  the  great  reforming  and  constructive 
figures,  from  Amos  and  Hosea,  from  Isaiah  and 
Jeremiah. 

But  again  I  must  guard  myself:  Muhammad 
cannot  be  compared  to  these  last,  on  any  absolute 
scale.  Only  as  both  contrast  with  their  soil  will  the 
comparison  hold.  What  raised  Muhammad  from 
it  was  two  ideas :  the  duty  of  the  care  of  the  poor, 
of  almsgiving  and  helpfulness;  and  the  unity  and 
absolute  sovereignty  of  Allah.  Of  those  germina- 
tive  conceptions  of  the  relations  between  God  and 


38    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

man  to  which  the  Hebrew  prophets  attained,  he  had 
no  idea  except  in  one  point.  With  his  hard  doctrine 
of  the  unity  of  Allah,  intermediaries  were  swept 
away.  The  whole  polydaemonistic  scheme  with 
a  one  God  somewhere  in  the  background,  to  which 
the  Arabs  seem  to  have  attained,  vanished.  There 
was  left  no  interceder  with  that  one  God ;  no  beings 
from  whom  revelations  might  come.  When  an 
angel  spoke  with  him — Gabriel  or  the  Holy  Spirit, 
or  whatever  the  term  might  be — there  was  no  semi- 
divine  personality  there.  On  the  one  hand  there 
was  Allah;  on  the  other,  his  creation,  including 
angels,  Jinn,  devils,  men.  Even  such  a  conception 
of  a  unity  of  nature  with  God  as  we  find  among  the 
Hebrews  in  the  Bene  Elohim,  the  Sons  of  God,  has 
vanished  with  him.  The  angels  were  created  of  light 
— that  is  their  only  distinction.  Allah  is  throned 
alone — the  Creator,  Ruler,  Destroyer — unto  him 
there  is  none  like. 

But  having  swept  away  at  one  stroke  all  lesser 
beings  from  whom  revelations  could  come,  having 
apparently  closed  the  unseen  world  to  man,  and 
fixed  a  gulf  that  none  could  pass,  with  another  stroke 
he  bridged  that  gulf  and  drew  man  immediately 
into  the  presence  of  God.  God,  himself,  the  One, 
reveals  himself  to  man  through  prophets  and  other- 
wise, and  man,  in  prayer,  can  come  directly  to  God. 
This  is  Muhammad's  great  glory.  The  individual 
soul  and  its  God  are  face  to  face.    Yet  in  the  abso- 


THE  SEMITES  AND  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD    39 

luteness  of  this  conception  lay  its  philosophical 
weakness  and  failure.  How  can  the  One  know  and 
be  known  by  that  which  is  other  than  itself  ?  How 
can  unlikes  ever  meet  ?  The  conception  of  a  father- 
hood of  God,  of  a  genetic  relationship,  runs  through 
the  Hebrew  prophets,  and  breaks  down  his  aloof- 
ness and  separateness.  The  conceptions  again,  on 
the  one  hand,  of  a  suffering  God,  who  has  borne 
our  flesh  and  knows  its  sorrows  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  a  Holy  Ghost,  the  God  immanent  who 
works  in  mankind,  form  the  soul  of  the  Christian 
church.  But  to  these  Islam  can  come,  only  by 
breaking  with  Muhammad. 

As  we  shall  see  abundantly  hereafter,  the  devout 
life  within  the  Muslim  church  led  to  a  more  com- 
plete pantheism  than  ever  did  the  Christian  trinity. 
In  the  struggle  to  bring  God  and  his  creation  to- 
gether, the  creation  had  to  become  an  aspect  of  the 
creator,  and  finally  to  vanish  into  him.  Only  in 
this  way  could  the  crass  dualism  be  overcome,  and 
that  monism  which  is  the  basis  or  result  of  all 
mysticism  be  reached.  There  are  stray  expressions 
which  suggest  that  Muhammad — a  devout  soul,  if 
ever  there  was  one  and  a  mystic  in  spite  of  his  creed — 
was  adrift  himself  on  that  sea,  and  was  nearing  that 
shore.  But  his  brain,  oriental  to  the  core,  contra- 
dictoriness  never  troubled,  and  Allah  could  be 
throned  apart  in  unapproachable  grandeur  and  yet 
near  to  every  human  heart.    His  creed  remained 


40    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

frankly  dualistic,  and  to  the  clearly  thinking  mind, 
the  ladder  between  earth  and  heaven  seemed  re- 
moved. How  the  inevitable  pressure  of  religious 
inspiration  restored  it  must  be  our  future  subject. 


LECTURE  II 

THE  MUSLIM  CONCEPTION  OF  PROPHECY  AND 

SOOTHSAYING 

It  is  time  now  to  turn  to  the  Muslims  themselves, 
and  ask  what  they  understand  under  prophecy; 
what  for  them  a  prophet  is.  In  putting  an  answer 
before  you,  I  choose  a  statement,  not  by  a  theolo- 
gian but  by  a  historian — a  historian,  it  is  true,  of 
marked  philosophical  leanings.  This  is  Ibn  Khal- 
dun,  who  was  born  at  Tunis,  lived  a  restless  life — 
part  statesman,  part  scholar,  part  lawyer, — was  on 
embassy  at  one  time  to  Peter  the  Cruel  at  Seville, 
and  at  another  to  Timur  in  his  camp  before  Damas- 
cus, and  died  at  Cairo  as  chief  justice  in  a.  d.  1406. 
His  great  work  was  a  Universal  History,  which,  as  a 
history,  does  not  merit  much  praise.  But  to  it  he 
prefixed  an  introduction,  his  justly  celebrated  Mu~ 
qaddima,  which  was  unique  in  its  own  time  and  for  at 
least  three  centuries  thereafter.  For  an  estimate 
of  it  as  a  contribution  to  philosophical  history,  or 
rather  as  the  foundation  of  that  science,  I  refer  you 
to  Robert  Flint's  Historical  Philosophy  in  France 
and  French  Belgium  and  Switzerland.  Professor 
Flint  was  not  an  Arabist,  but  he  was  all  the  better 
able  to  estimate  the  value  of  a  book  that  alone  would 
suffice  to  vindicate  the  scientific  weight  of  the  Arabic 
literature.    Hereafter  I  shall  translate  a  good  deal 

41 


42    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

from  it.  It  gives  very  fairly  the  final  result  of  the 
centuries  of  theological  development  which  preceded 
—  a  result  which  abides  to  this  day.  Ibn  Khaldun 
therein  voices  the  catholic  church  of  Islam. 

You  wiU  observe  that  he  is  as  absolute  a  super- 
naturalist  as  Muhammad  himself  or  any  primitive 
Semite.  Yet  he  tries  to  reduce  his  supernaturalism 
to  scheme,  if  not  entirely  to  rationalize  it.  The  fact 
of  those  rifts  in  the  shell  of  nature,  through  which 
the  unseen  world  touches  us,  he  in  no  way  denies. 
But  he  tries  to  explain  the  method  so  as  to  bring  it 
into  accordance  with  the  process  which  we  see 
going  on  around  us.  This  leads  him,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  a  queer  semi-evolutionary  doctrine  which 
he  borrowed  from  the  Aristotelian  philosophers,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  a  doctrine  of  the  human  mind 
which  seems  halfway  between  phrenology  and  the 
more  modern  and  fashionable  hypothesis  of  sublim- 
inal selves.  In  fact,  I  think,  when  you  have  heard 
what  he  has  to  say,  you  will  agree  with  me  that  he 
had  some  most  interesting  psychological  ideas,  and 
that  he  would  probably  have  been  in  close  sympathy 
with  Mr.  William  James's  Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience.  His  weak  point  is  on  the  constructive 
side,  and  that  our  modern  speculations  would  have 
strengthened.  His  different  "souls"  would  pass 
easily  into  different  selves,  but  it  may  be  that  he 
would  have  had  to  invert  their  order.  Yet  his  doc- 
trine of  the  use  of  magic  mirrors,  crystal  balls  and 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  43 

the  like  appears  to  be  in  absolute  accord  with  our 
psychology. 

His  section  on  inspiration  and  vision  he  opens 
thus  :^ 

Know  that  God  has  chosen  from  mankind  certain  indi- 
viduals whom  he  has  graced  with  converse  with  Himself  and 
has  given  such  a  constitution  that  they  may  know  him,  and 
has  made  to  be  means  of  access  between  Him  and  His  crea- 
tures, that  they  may  instruct  men  as  to  what  is  best  for  them, 
and  may  exhort  them  to  accept  their  guidance,  and  may  keep 
them  from  the  Fire,  and  guide  them  in  the  way  of  salvation. 
In  that  which  God  gives  to  them,  consisting  of  knowledge, 
and  exhibits  in  agreement  with  what  they  say,  consisting  of 
invasions  of  the  order  of  nature,  is  also  narrative  concerning 
things  hidden  from  mankind,  to  the  knowledge  of  which  there 
is  no  path  except  from  God  by  their  intermediation;  and  they 
do  not  know  it  except  through  God's  instructing  them.  The 
Prophet  has  said,  ''I  know  only  what  God  has  taught  me." 
Know  further  that  truthfulness  is  an  essential  and  necessary 
element  in  what  they  tell  in  that  way,  for  reasons  which  will 
become  plain  to  you  in  connection  with  the  explanation  of  the 
essential  nature  of  prophecy. 

Here,  you  will  see,  is  a  frankly  supernatural  defini- 
tion and  the  end  of  prophecy  is  to  save  men  from  the 
Fire.  This  is  one  of  the  most  puzzling  paradoxes  in 
Islam.  As  to  recognizing,  using  and  enjoying  this 
world,  Islam  is  a  most  practical  religion,  but  on  its 
doctrine  of  salvation  it  is  absolutely  and  entirely 
other-worldly.     Ibn  Khaldun  then  goes  on  to  give 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  91;  Bulaq,  p.  77;  de  Slane's  transla- 
tion, Vol.  I,  p.  184. 


44    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

five  signs  which  characterize  the  prophetic  division 
of  the  human  race : 

I.  In  the  state  of  inspiration  the  prophet  exhibits  uncon- 
sciousness of  his  surroundings  along  with  a  snoring  in  the 
throat;  [the  last  word  is  difficult;^  it  is  used  to  describe  the 
roaring  of  the  male  camel  when  it  blows  the  faucial  bag  out 
of  its  mouth,  or  the  snorting  of  an  angry  man,  or  loud  snoring] 
— it  is  to  all  appearance  as  though  he  were  fainting  or  swoon- 
ing. But  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind;  in  reality  he  is  only 
immersed  in  meeting  the  spiritual  messenger.  This  takes 
place  when  they  apprehend  that  which  is  cognate  to  them  but 
entirely  inaccessible  to  the  physical  senses.  Thereafter  that 
descends  to  the  physical  senses,  either  through  the  hearing  of 
a  humming  of  speech — then  the  prophet  understands  it — or 
there  presents  itself  to  him  the  form  of  an  individual  address- 
ing him  with  that  which  he  has  brought  from  God,  Thereafter 
that  state  clears  away  from  him,  and  he  has  retained  the 
message.  The  Prophet,  having  been  asked  about  inspiration, 
said,  "At  times  it  comes  to  me  like  the  ringing  of  a  bell;  that 
is  the  most  grievous  upon  me;  then  it  drops  away  from  me 
and  I  have  retained  what  it  said.  And  at  times  the  angel 
presents  himself  to  me  as  a  man  and  speaks  to  me;  then  I 
retain  what  he  says."  In  the  course  of  that  there  used  to 
come  upon  him  such  grievousness  and  pressure  in  the  throat 
as  cannot  be  expressed.  In  a  tradition  stands,  "There  was 
a  great  grievousness  in  the  effect  of  revelation  upon  him." 
«^A=isha  said,  "Inspiration  would  descend  upon  him  on  a  day 
of  bitter  cold;  then  it  would  drop  away  from  him;  and 
his  brow  would  be  running  with  sweat."  God  said*  "Lo, 
we  shall  cast  upon  thee  a  heavy  word."  And  because  the 
descending    of   inspiration    had   so  extreme   an    effect   the 

^  Cf.  Sprenger,  Leben  Mohammeds,  Vol.  I,  pp.  228,  270. 
a  Qur.  Ixxiii,  5. 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING      4$ 

polytheists  used  to  accuse  the  prophets  of  being  possessed 
by  Jinn.  They  would  say,  "He  has  a  famiHar^  of  the  Jinn." 
But  it  was  only  by  what  they  had  observed  of  the  outward 
appearance  of  these  states  that  the  case  of  the  Prophet  was 
obscured  to  them.  "He  has  no  guide  whom  God  leads 
astray."^ 

Because  of  its  importance  I  have  translated  this 
very  closely.  You  will  observe  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  practical  identity  in  outward  appear- 
ance between  a  prophet  and  one  possessed  by  a 
Jinni.  From  the  traditions  I  could  quote  many 
other  descriptions  of  Muhammad's  appearance 
under  inspiration,  but  they  would  not  serve  any 
useful  purpose.  The  individual  traditions,  with  their 
details,  are  often  suspicious,  and  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  weed  them  out.  This  holds  especially 
of  Muhammad's  earlier  life  at  Mecca,  at  the  time 
when  there  cannot  be  any  question  of  his  honesty. 
But  that  he  fell  into  absolute  trance-conditions  in 
later  life  when  he  was  consciously  manipulating 
his  revelations  to  suit  his  purpose,  cannot  be  doubted 
either.  It  is  of  these  later  times  that  Ibn  Khaldun 
gives  us  here,  as  it  were,  a  philosophical  collective 
photograph.  He  was  probably  aided  also  by  similar 
phenomena  which  he  had  observed  among  his  own 
contemporaries.  The  feeling  of  weight  and  the 
choking  in  the  throat  seem  to  be  characteristic  for 
all  phenomena  of  the  subconscious  life.     A  more 

1  Literally  "an  apparition  or  follower." 

2  Qur.  xiii,  33. 


46    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

precise  interpretation  of  these  symptoms  has  not 
yet  been  reached.  Weil,  in  1862,  tried  to  prove 
that  they  pointed  to  epilepsy  as  opposed  to  cata- 
lepsy. More  recently  Professor  Margoliouth,  in 
his  Life  of  Muhammad  (p.  46),  has  urged  the  same 
based  on  such  symptoms  as  this  unconsciousness, 
the  sound  of  a  bell,  the  belief  that  someone  is  pres- 
ent, a  resultant  headache,  violent  perspiration,  and 
others,  such  as  turning  of  the  head  to  one  side, 
foaming  at  the  mouth,  reddening  or  whitening  of  the 
face,  all  which  are  characteristics  of  epilepsy.  But 
as  Sprenger  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  65)  rightly  points  out,  the 
traditions  are  too  contradictory  to  afford  a  sure 
basis.  What  is  certain  is  the  existence  of  some 
pathological  condition  in  Muhammad,  resulting  in 
trances,  and  it  is  not  at  all  impossible  that  Sprenger' s 
judgment  (Vol.  I.  pp.  207  f.)  that  it  was  some  form 
of  hysteria  under  which  he  suffered,  may  be  correct. 
A  more  detailed  examination  in  the  light  of  the 
recent  investigations  of  nervous  diseases  through 
hypnotism  might  reach  more  sure  results.  There 
are  striking  parallels  with  the  descriptions  of  Mrs. 
Piper's  appearance  on  entering  and  leaving  trance 
which  are  scattered  through  the  Proceedings  oj  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research. 

The  narratives  seem  generally  to  imply  that 
Muhammad  communicated  his  "revelations"  onlv 
after  he  had  come  out  of  the  trance  condition. 
That  may  have  been,  but  it  must  be  regarded  as 


0 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING      47 

probable  also  that  he  spoke  in  trance  as  does,  for 
example,  Mrs.  Piper.  And  one  very  curious  passage 
in  the  Qufdn  (Ixxv,  i6;  cf.  xx,  no)  would  suggest 
that  he  spoke  automatically — like  an  automatic 
writer — out  of  trance.  It  runs,  "Do  not  move  thy 
tongue  in  it  [the  revelation]  to  hurry  it."  This  is 
exactly  the  caution  that  the  conscious  automatic 
writer  has  to  observe,  namely,  that  he  does  not 
consciously  move  his  hand  in  order  to  hurry  the 
process.  That  the  words  apply  to  Muhammad's 
action  in  receiving  revelation  is  a  very  old  traditional 
exegesis.^ 

The  second  characteristic  of  the  prophetic  class, 
which  Ibn  Khaldiin  gives,  need  not  detain  us  so 
long.  Even  before  inspiration,  prophets  have  a  good 
and  pure  disposition;  they  turn  away  from  blame- 
worthy things  and  uncleanness  generally.  This  is 
what  is  meant  when  they  are  said  to  be  protected 
against  sin  and  error;  it  is  as  though  they  were 
created  with  a  tendency  to  flee  these  things,  which 
are  incongruous  with  their  nature.  Stories  follow 
how  Muhammad,  as  a  child,  fell  in  a  swoon  when 
his  person  was  exposed;  how  God  cast  on  him,  as  a 
youth,  a  miraculous  sleep  so  that  he  should  not  go  to 
a  wedding,  and  have  part  in  unseemly  sports ;  how 
he  avoided  garlic,  etc.,  for  the  sake  of  his  angel 
visitors. 

I  Tabari's  Tajsir,  Vol.  XXIX,  p.  loi;  Razi's  Majatlh,  Vol. 
VIII,  p.  283,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  h.  1308. 


48    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

The  third  characteristic  is  that  prophets  sum- 
mon to  religion  and  devotion,  that  is  prayer  and 
the  giving  of  the  poor  rate  and  chaste  conversation. 
The  possession  of  the  above  three  characteristics 
alone  is  enough  as  a  proof  of  prophecy.  Ibn  Khal- 
dun  tells  here  one  of  those  absurd  stories  of  which 
Islam  is  so  fond,  and  which  seem  to  have  shot  up 
as  did  the  apocryphal  gospels  in  early  Christianity; 
or  they  are  like  our  religious  novels,  with  the  differ- 
ence that  they  were  and  are  fully  believed.  Mu- 
hammad's letter,  summoning  to  Islam,  came  to 
the  emperor  Heraclius.  So  he  called  into  his  pres- 
ence those  of  the  tribe  of  the  Prophet  whom  he 
could  find,  and  among  them  Abu  Sufyan,  the  great 
enemy  of  Muhammad,  and  asked  them  about  him, 
especially  what  he  commanded  them.  Abu  Sufyan 
replied,  "Prayer  and  the  poor-rate  and  charity  and 
chastity."  Then  said  Heraclius,  "If  what  thou 
sayest  is  true,  he  is  verily  a  prophet,  and  will  rule 
all  that  is  under  these  two  feet  of  mine."  "This 
was  enough  as  a  proof  for  Heraclius,"  comments 
Ibn  Khaldun;  "he  had  no  need  of  an  evidentiary 
miracle." 

The  fourth  characteristic  is  that  the  prophet  must 
be  a  person  of  distinction  among  his  people.  No 
prophet  has  been  sent,  says  a  tradition,  save  in  an 
assured  position  with  his  people,  and  in  wealth.  This 
is  that  he  may  have  a  party  and  power  to  defend  him 
against  unbelievers,  until  he  delivers  the  message 


"O 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  49 

of  his  Lord,  and  finish  the  will  of  God  in  perfecting 
his  religion  and  forming  a  community.  This  charac- 
teristic is  evidently  deduced  from  the  career  of 
Muhammad  himself;  it  could  in  no  way  be  derived 
either  from  the  Old  or  the  New  Testament.  And 
the  kdhin  of  heathen  Arabia,  also,  seldom  had 
an  assured  position.  But  Ibn  Khaldiin  is  perfectly 
right.  This  conception  is  an  absolute  element  in 
the  Muslim  idea  of  the  prophet.  He  is  not  a  voice 
preaching  righteousness  and  proclaiming  God,  but 
the  militant  head  of  a  community  claiming,  as  a 
right,  absolute  sovereignty. 

The  fifth  characteristic  of  prophets  is  the  occur- 
rence with  them  of  invasions  of  the  order  of  nature, 
bearing  witness  to  their  truthfulness.  These  are 
actions  whose  like  ordinary  mankind  cannot  per- 
form; they  fall  outside  of  the  sphere  of  a  creature's 
power.  There  is  a  dispute,  however,  as  to  how 
they  occur  and  how  they  prove  the  veracity  of  a 
prophet.  The  scholastic  theologians  generally  hold 
that  they  occur  by  the  power  of  God,  not  by  the 
action  of  the  prophet.  Even  the  heretical  Mu^tazil- 
ites,  though  they  say  generally  that  the  actions  of 
a  creature  proceed  from  him  himself,  say  of  the 
evidentiary  miracle  that  it  is  not  the  action  of  a 
creature — in  this  case,  the  prophet.  Further,  the 
scholastics  hold  that  the  prophet  has  absolutely  no 
part  in  it;  he  only  uses  it  as  a  weapon,  by  the  per- 
mission of  God ;  that  is,  before  it  occurs  the  prophet 


so    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

states  it  as  a  proof  of  his  veracity  in  his  claim;  then, 
when  it  has  occurred,  it  takes  the  place  of  a  clear 
utterance  from  God  that  the  prophet  is  truthful; 
its  proof,  thus,  is  absolute.  So  an  evidentiary  mir- 
acle proves  the  veracity  of  a  prophet  through  (i) 
being  an  invasion  of  the  order  of  nature  and  (2) 
being  thus  controversially  used,  the  use  is  a  part  of 
it,  or  as  the  scholastics  say,  an  essential  quality. 
Further,  this  controversial  use  is  what  distinguishes 
the  evidentiary  miracle  {mu^jiza)  of  the  prophet  from 
the  miracle  worked  by  a  saint  (kardma)  and  from 
magic.  In  the  last  two  there  is  no  need  of  proving 
veracity,  nor  is  there  any  controversial  intention, 
except  accidentally.  If,  by  chance,  it  occurs  in  a 
saint's  miracle  on  the  part  of  the  performer  of  the 
miracle,  and  has  a  probative  force,  it  proves  saint- 
ship  only  and  not  prophecy.  Some  have  denied 
the  possibility  of  miracles  by  saints,  fearing  this 
confusion,  but  Ibn  Khaldun  thinks  the  distinc- 
tion clear.  The  Mu^tazilites,  however,  reject  saints' 
miracles  because  invasions  of  the  order  of  nature 
cannot  be  actions  of  a  creature,  since  the  actions  of 
creatures  are  limited  to  custom.  That  the  eviden- 
tiary miracle  cannot  be  worked  by  a  liar  is  proven 
as  follows :  The  Ash'^arites,  orthodox  scholastics,  say 
that  assertion  of  veracity  and  right  guidance  are  both 
essential  qualities  in  an  evidentiary  miracle.  Then 
if  it  occurs  without  these,  as  it  would  if  worked  by  a 
liar,  the  proof  is  ambiguous,  the  guidance  into  right 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  51 

becomes  leading  astray,  and  the  assertion  of  vera- 
city becomes  a  lie.  So  the  essentials  are  changed; 
the  essential  qualities  transformed.  Its  occurrence 
is  thus  impossible.  The  Mu^tazilites  simply  say  that 
the  occurrence  of  proof  as  ambiguity  and  of  right 
guidance  as  leading  astray  is  abominable  and  cannot 
have  place  with  God. 

The  philosophers,  on  the  other  hand,  meaning  the 
students  of  Greek  philosophy,  Aristotelians  and 
neo-Platonists,  hold  that  the  invasion  of  the  order 
of  nature  in  a  miracle  is  an  act  of  the  prophet,  al- 
though that  invasion  is  strictly  outside  of  his  power. 
They  base  this  on  their  general  position  as  to  essen- 
tial necessity.  The  occurrence  of  events,  one  from 
another,  depends  on  causes  and  conditions ;  all  goes 
back  at  the  last  to  the  Necessary,  the  agent  per  se,  not 
by  choice.  The  soul  of  the  prophet,  for  them,  has 
essential  peculiarities,  among  which  are  the  pro- 
duction of  these  invasions  of  the  order  of  nature  by 
his  own  power,  and  the  obedience  of  the  elements  to 
him  in  producing  things.  The  prophet,  for  them, 
is  endowed  with  control  over  things  whenever  he 
turns  to  them  and  has  reached  full  age  for  that 
purpose.  This  is  given  to  him  by  God.  So  the 
invasion  of  nature  on  the  part  of  the  prophet  occurs 
equally,  whether  it  is  with  controversial  intention  or 
not,  and  is  a  proof  of  his  veracity  by  proving  that  he 
has  that  control  over  things  which  is  peculiar  to  the 
prophetic  soul.     For  the  philosophers,  therefore,  the 


52    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

distinction  by  controversial  intention  between  the 
evidentiary  miracle  and  the  saint's  miracle  and  magic 
fails.  They  distinguish  the  prophet  from  the  ma- 
gician by  the  quality  of  his  actions.  The  prophet's 
actions  are  good;  the  magician's  bad.  Saints,  on 
the  other  hand,  have  a  more  limited  sphere  of 
wonders.  The  prophet  ascends  to  heaven,  and 
penetrates  dense  bodies,  and  restores  the  dead  to 
life,  and  speaks  with  angels,  and  flies  in  the  air.  But 
the  saint  can  only  multiply  things  and  tell  something 
of  the  future,  and  the  like.  These  philosophers,  you 
will  observe,  were  evidently  working  very  hard  to  get 
a  scientific  statement  for  the  belief  of  their  time.  We 
know  the  same  phenomenon.  All  this,  says  Ibn 
Khaldun,  meaning  apparently  the  entire  doctrine  of 
the  miracles  of  prophets  and  saints,  has  been  con- 
firmed by  the  Sufis,  the  professed  Muslim  mystics, 
in  the  books  on  their  discipline.  For  him,  we  will 
find,  the  mystical  experience  is  the  ultimate  proof. 
Finally,  the  greatest  and  clearest  of  all  evidentiary 
miracles  is  the  Qur^dn  itself.  It  combines  both  the 
thing  to  be  proved,  that  is  the  inspiration,  and  the 
proof;  therein  is  its  uniqueness,  the  very  self-evident 
soul  of  inspiration  itself. 

These  five  characteristics,  then,  are  the  outward 
signs  of  a  prophet.  But  what  is  the  nature  of  the 
prophet  ?  what  this  prophetic  soul  of  which  we  have 
just  heard?  what  his  part  in  the  scheme  of  the 
universe?    Here  we  enter  on  deep  waters,  and  I 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  53 

must  ask  your  very  close  attention  and  also  your 
indulgence  with  the  strain  which  I  shall  throw  on 
the  English  language.  Scholastic  philosophy  can- 
not be  made  very  luminous;  and  when  it  must  be 
translated  from  Arabic,  its  state  is  twice  confounded. 

You  will  remember,  of  course,  that  the  universe, 
for  Ibn  Khaldun,  was  the  Ptolemaic  universe,  the 
universe  of  Dante  and  Milton,  consisting  of  con- 
centric spheres.  Also  he  is  ruled  by  a  conception  of 
the  unity  of  nature  and  its  processes  derived  from 
neo-Platonism;  all  life  is  in  a  process  of  emanation, 
tending  to  gradual  particularization  from  the  uni- 
versal, but  possessed  always  by  a  longing  to  return 
to  the  one,  perfect  unity.  This  joins  the  Aristotelian 
conception  of  the  whole  of  nature  as  instinct  with  a 
vital  impulse  towards  some  higher  manifestation,  and 
of  organic  life  as  on  an  ascending  scale  of  complexity 
with  man  as  the  final  end.  Only  Aristotle  regarded 
the  species  as  fixed,  but  Ibn  Khaldun  seems  to  have 
accepted  the  possibility  and  actuality  of  a  true 
Q^  developing  from  one  into  another.  That  he  had 
from  the  neo-Platonic  admixture;  as  also  the  stretch- 
ing of  the  process  on  into  the  spiritual  world.  A 
semi-pantheistic  attitude  is  thus  reached,  which  with 
many  Muslims  became  absolute  pantheism.  With 
him  it  is  only  mysticism : 

Know  [says  Ibn  Khaldun,^] — God  guide  aright  us  and 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  95;    Bulaq,  p.  80;  de  Slane's  translation, 
Vol.  I,  p.  196. 


54    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

thee! — that  we  observe  this  world,  with  all  that  is  in  it  of 
created  things,  to  be  in  a  scheme  of  arrangement  and  ordi- 
nance, a  linking  of  causes  to  results,  and  a  joining  of  things 
to  things,  and  a  changing  of  some  existences  into  others; 
its  marvels  therein  unending;  and  its  limits  unbounded.  I 
begin,  then,  with  the  physical  world,  perceptible  to  the 
senses. 

First,  the  world  of  the  elements.  We  can  observe  how  it 
ascends  upward  by  steps,  from  earth  to  water,  then  to  air,  then 
to  fire;  each  joined  to  the  other,  and  each  fitted  to  change  into 
that  which  is  beyond  it,  upward  and  downward,  and  actually 
changing  on  certain  occasions.  The  upper  of  these  is  always 
finer  than  that  which  precedes,  until  the  world  of  the  spheres 
is  reached,  which  is  finest  of  all  and  is  in  stages,  one  joining 
to  another  upon  a  scheme  of  which  sense  can  perceive  nothing 
but  the  motions  only.  Yet  by  these  motions  some  have  been 
guided  to  a  knowledge  of  their  measures  and  positions,  and  to 
what  exists  beyond  them  of  essences  to  which  these  effects 
on  them  are  due.  Consider  next  the  world  of  becoming — 
this  changing  world  of  ours — how  it  begins  with  minerals; 
then  come  plants;  then  animals,  after  a  wondrous  scheme 
of  progress  upward,  the  last  of  the  region  of  the  minerals 
joining  the  beginning  of  the  region  of  the  plants,  such  as  grass 
and  what  has  no  seed;  and  the  last  of  the  region  of  the  plants, 
such  as  the  palm  and  the  vine  joining  the  beginning  of  the  region 
of  animals,  such  as  the  snail  and  shell-fish,  both  of  which  have 
the  power  of  touch  only.  And  ''joining"  in  the  case  of  these 
created  things  means  that  the  last  of  a  region  of  them  is 
curiously  fitted  to  become  the  beginning  of  the  region  of  that 
which  comes  after  it. 

The  world  of  animals  is  wide,  and  its  species  are  numerous, 
and  it  extends  in  the  development  of  this  changing  world  up 
to  man,  the  possessor  of  reflection  and  thought.  The  species 
mount  up  to  him  from  this  world  which  we  perceive  with  our 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING      55 

senses,  which  includes  sense  and  apprehension,  but  which 
does  not  extend  to  thought  and  reflection  actually.  That  is 
the  beginning  of  a  region  which  extends  from  man  onward, 
and  here  ends  what  we  can  directly  observe. 

Then  we  find  in  the  worlds,  as  they  vary,  differing  effects; 
in  the  world  of  sense,  effects  from  the  movements  of  the 
spheres  and  from  the  elements;  in  the  world  of  change  in 
which  we  are,  effects  from  the  movement  of  growth  and  appre- 
hension; all  testify  that  there  is  a  producer  of  effects  separate 
from  bodies.  It  is  spiritual  and  is  in  contact  with  the  things 
of  this  world  because  this  world  and  these  things  in  it  are  in 
contact  throughout.  It  is,  therefore,  the  soul  which  appre- 
hends and  sets  in  motion,  and  above  it,  without  question,  there 
must  be  another  being  which  gives  it  its  powers  of  appre- 
hending and  setting  in  motion,  and  is  in  contact  with  it  also, 
and  whose  essence  is  pure  apprehension  and  absolute  ration- 
ality.    It  is  the  world  of  angels. 

So  there  must  needs  belong  to  the  soul  a  fitness  to  be 
stripped  of  the  nature  of  mankind  and  to  put  on  the  angelic 
nature,  so  as  to  become  actually  of  the  genus  of  angels,  on  an 
occasion,  for  a  moment.  But  that  can  happen  only  after  the 
soul's  spiritual  essence  is  actually  perfected,  as  we  shall  men- 
tion hereafter. 

And  it  has  contacts  with  the  regions  beyond  it,  like  the 
other  ordered  existences,  as  we  have  said  above.  In  these 
contacts  there  are  two  directions,  upward  and  downward. 
The  soul  joins  with  the  body  downward  and  acquires  through 
it  sensuous  apprehensions  which  fit  it  for  attaining  to  actual 
operation  of  the  reason.  Upward  it  joins  the  region  of  the 
angels  and  through  that  gains  apprehension  of  divine  knowl- 
edge and  of  the  Unseen.  For  the  world  of  events  [this  world 
in  which  things  happen]  exists  in  the  intellectual  operations  of 
angels  apart  from  time.  All  this,  according  to  what  we  have 
said  above,  proceeds  from  the  ordered  arrangement  which  we 


56    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

find  in  all  existence  consisting  of  the  contact  of  its  essences 
and  powers,  one  with  another. 

Next,  this  human  soul^  cannot  be  seen^  but  its  effects  are 
plain  in  the  body,  as  though  the  body  and  all  its  parts,  joined 
and  separate,  were  instruments  for  the  soul  and  its  powers 
which  are  either  active  like  grasping  with  the  hand  and  walk- 
ing with  the  foot  and  speaking  with  the  tongue,  and  like  the 
total  motion  in  the  body  through  alternate  efforts;  or  they 
are  apprehensive. 

Then,  just  as  the  powers  of  apprehension  are  arranged  and 
ascend  up  to  their  highest  and  to  the  highest  of  the  thinking 
power  which  is  called  the  logical  soul,  so  the  external  senses 
with  their  instruments  of  hearing,  seeing,  etc.,  ascend  to 
the  internal  senses.  The  first  of  these  is  the  ''general  sense" 
[the  Aristotelian  "common  sense "]^  the  power  which  appre- 
hends sensuous  percepts,  seen,  heard,  touched,  etc.,  all  in  a 
single  state;  thereby  the  general  sense  is  distinguished  from 
the  external  senses,  because  the  percepts  do  not  press  upon 
them  all  at  once.  Then  the  "general  sense"  passes  it  along 
to  the  imagination.  It  is  a  power  which  presents  the  perceived 
thing  in  the  soul  as  stripped  of  external  matter.  The  instru- 
ment of  these  two  powers  in  their  rule  is  the  first  hollow  of  the 
brain,  the  anterior  portion  to  the  first,  and  the  posterior 
portion  to  the  second.  Then  the  imagination  ascends  to 
the  power  of  forming  opinions  and  to  the  memory.  The 
power  of  forming  opinions  is  for  the  apprehension  of  ideas 
connected  with  individualities,  like  the  enmity  of  Zayd  and 
the  friendship  of  "^Amr,  the  love  of  a  father  and  the  voracity 

1  On  the  psychological  scheme  which  follows  compare  Ibn 
Sina's  little  treatise  edited,  with  German  translation,  by  Landauer 
in  ZDMG.,  Vol.  XXIX,  and  translated  into  English  by  E.  A. 
Van  Dyck,  A  Compendium  on  the  Soul,  Verona,  1906. 

2  Zeller,  Aristotle  and  the  Earlier  Peripatetics,  Vol.  II,  pp.  68  ff., 
of  the  English  translation.     See  especially  note  3,  p.  68. 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING      57 

of  the  wolf.  The  memory  is  for  the  storing  up  of  all  the 
apprehended  and  imagined  things  and  is  like  a  treasury  of 
them,  preserving  them  for  time  of  need.  The  instrument  of 
these  two  powers  in  their  rule  is  the  posterior  hollow  of  the 
brain;  the  first  of  it  to  the  first,  and  the  latter  to  the  other. 

Then  they  all  ascend  to  the  intellectual  power  whose  instru- 
ment is  the  middle  hollow  of  the  brain.  It  is  the  power  by 
which  takes  place  the  movement  of  meditation  and  inclining 
toward  intellectual  processes.  So  the  soul  is  moved  th?reby 
constantly  on  account  of  the  longing  involved  in  it  t ,  \vard 
deliverance  from  the  surveillance  of  the  power  which  holds 
it  back  and  from  the  equipment  which  belongs  to  human 
nature.  So,  in  its  rational  operation,  the  soul  comes  out  into 
action,  making  itself  like  to  the  Heavenly  Spiritual  Host^ 
and  it  enters  the  lowest  of  the  ranks  of  the  Spiritualities  when 
it  apprehends  without  bodily  instruments.  Toward  that  it  is 
constantly  moving  and  heading.  Then,  sometimes,  it  passes 
over  completely  from  human  nature  and  its  form  of  spiritu- 
ality to  the  angelic  nature  of  the  upper  region,  not  by  any 
acquiring  of  a  new  thing,  but  by  the  constitution  and  primitive 
creation  wherein  God  has  made  it. 

And  human  souls  are  of  three  kinds.  First,  a  kind  too 
weak  by  nature  to  attain  this  degree.  These  souls  are  limited 
to  motion  in  the  lower  direction,  toward  sensuous  and  imagin- 
ary apprehensions,  and  to  the  combining  of  ideas  from  the 
memory  and  to  the  power  which  forms  opinions  according 
to  limited  rules  and  specific  arrangement.  They  acquire 
hereby  the  sciences,  conceptual  and  affirmative,  which  belong 
to  the  intellect  when  in  the  body,  and  all  of  which  belong 
to  the  imagination  and  are  of  limited  range,  since,  on  the  side 
of  its  beginning,  the  soul  extends  to  elements  only  and  does  not 
pass  beyond  them.  If  it  is  corrupt,  then  all  beyond  these  is 
barred  to  it.     This,  for  the  most  part,  is  the  limit  of  human 

I  Qur.  xxxvii,  8. 


58    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

apprehension  in  the  body;    to  it  the  apprehensions  of  the 
learned  attain  and  in  it  their  feet  are  firm. 

Souls  of  the  second  kind  set  out  through  that  intellectual 
motion  toward  the  spiritual  reason  and  toward  the  kind  of 
apprehension  which,  on  account  of  the  equipment  therefor 
which  has  been  made  in  them,  has  no  need  of  bodily  instru- 
ments. The  range  of  their  apprehension  is  wider  than  the 
elements  which  are  the  range  of  the  primary  apprehension 
belonging  to  humanity,  and  they  go  on  freely  to  internal 
observations.  These  are  a  kind  of  ecstasy  as  a  whole; 
they  have  a  limit  at  their  beginning  but  not  at  their  end. 
They  are  the  apprehensions  of  the  learned  of  the  saints,  the 
people  of  the  religious  sciences  and  of  divine  knowledge;  they 
are  attained  after  death  by  the  saved,  in  the  state  between 
death  and  the  resurrection. 

The  third  kind  are  created  with  the  power  of  passing  over 
from  humanity,  its  flesh  and  its  spirit,  to  the  angels  of  the 
upper  region,  so  that,  for  a  moment,  they  become  angels 
actually,  and  in  that  moment  witness  the  Heavenly  Host 
in  their  region,  and  hear  spiritual  speech  and  the  divine 
allocution.  These  are  prophets;  God  has  created  for  them 
the  power  of  their  momentarily  passing  over  from  humanity- 
And  this  is  the  state  of  inspiration;  a  constitution  on  which 
God  has  constituted  them  and  a  nature  in  which  He  has 
formed  them.  Through  the  traits  of  character  which  have 
been  combined  in  them,  consisting  of  the  striving  and  up- 
rightness by  which  they  look  toward  God,  and  through  the 
desire  which  is  fixed  in  their  natures  for  the  service  of  God? 
unveiled  in  that  looking  and  making  easy  its  path,  he  has 
removed  them  from  the  hindrances  and  entanglements  of  the 
body  so  long  as  they  remain  mixed  with  these  through  their 
human  nature.  So,  whenever  they  wish,  they  set  out  for  that 
region  by  means  of  that  power  of  transition  and  that  constitution 
in  which  they  are  constituted,  not  by  any  acquisition  or  art. 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING      59 

Then,  when  they  set  out  and  pass  over  from  their  humanity, 
and  encounter  in  that  Heavenly  Host  what  they  encounter, 
they  turn  to  the  channels  of  physical  apprehension  with  that 
as  a  revelation  to  be  sent  down  by  means  of  these  channels, 
for  the  sake  of  transmitting  it  to  creatures.  So,  at  one  time, 
one  of  them  hears  a  humming  sound,  as  though  it  were  a 
suggestion  of  speech,  from  which  he  may  take  the  sense 
which  has  been  brought  to  him,  and  the  humming  sound 
does  not  cease  until  he  has  retained  it  and  understood  it. 
And,  at  another  time,  the  angel  who  brings  the  revelation  to 
him  presents  himself  as  a  man,  and  talks  to  him,  and  he 
retains  what  the  angel  says.  The  encountering  of  the  angel, 
and  the  return  to  the  channels  of  physical  apprehension,  and 
his  understanding  what  is  brought  to  him,  all  of  that  is  as 
though  it  were  in  a  single  flash,  or  less  than  a  glance  of  the  eye. 
It  does  not  happen  in  time,  but  it  happens,  all  of  it,  together. 
So  it  appears  as  though  it  were  swift,  and  therefore  it  is 
called  inspiration  {wahy)  because  wahy,  in  Arabic,  means 
"hastening."^ 

Know,  further,  that  the  first  state— the  state  of  hearing  a 
humming— is  the  stage  of  the  prophets  who  are  not  apostles 
sent  with  books,  as  the  distinction  is  made,  and  the  second— 
the  state  when  an  angel  appears  like  a  man  talking— is  the 
stage  of  the  prophets  sent  with  books,  and  on  that  account  is 
more  perfect  than  the  first.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  tra- 
dition in  which  the  prophet  explained  inspiration  when  he 
was  asked  about  it.  He  said,  "At  times  it  comes  to  me 
like  the  ringing  of  a  bell,  and  that  is  the  most  grievous  upon 
me.  Then  it  falls  away  from  me  and  I  have  retained  what  it 
said.  And  at  times  the  angel  presents  himself  to  me  as  a 
man  and  speaks  to  me;  then  I  retain  what  he  says."  The 
first  of  these  was  more  grievous,  only  because  it  was  the 
initial  step  in  passing  from  potentiality  to  actuality  in  reaching 

I  But  see  p.  252  below. 


6o    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

the  spiritual  world.  So  he  was  under  somewhat  of  a  strain. 
Therefore  when  he  turned,  in  this  state,  to  the  channels  of 
physical  apprehension,  these  limited  themselves  down  to 
hearing;  every  other  way  would  have  been  too  hard.  But 
when  the  inspiration  was  repeated,  and  the  encountering 
of  the  angel  occurred  often,  reaching  the  spiritual  world 
became  easy.  So  when  he  turned  to  the  channels  of  physical 
apprehension  he  reached  them  as  a  whole,  and,  especially,  the 
clearest  of  them,  which  is  apprehension  by  sight. 

Know,  too,  that  in  the  state  of  apprehension  as  a  whole, 
is  a  general  difficulty  and  grievousness,  which  the  Qur^dn 
has  pointed  out.  God  has  said,  ''Lo  we  shall  cast  upon  thee 
a  heavy  word."  And  <^A=isha  said,  ''To  that  which  he  had 
to  endure  from  the  revelation  belonged  a  great  grievousness." 
And  she  said  also,  "Inspiration  would  descend  upon  him 
on  a  day  of  bitter  cold;  then  it  would  drop  away  from  him; 
and  his  brow  would  be  running  with  sweat."  On  that 
account  there  used  to  befall  him  when  in  that  state  such 
unconsciousness,  roaring  and  choking  in  the  throat  as  is  well 
known.  The  cause  of  that  was  that  inspiration,  as  we  have  ^ 
explained,  is  a  separation  from  the  physical  nature  for  the  sake 
of  angelic  apprehensions,  and  an  encountering  of  the  speech 
of  the  soul.  So  there  arises  a  grievousness  from  the  separa- 
tion of  the  self  from  the  self,  and  its  transition  from  its 
region  to  that  other  region.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  chok- 
ing which  was  spoken  of  as  occurring  at  the  beginning  of 
revelation,  when  he  [Muhammad]  said,  "Then  he  choked 
me  until  pain  reached  its  limit  with  me;  thereupon  he  let  me 
go,  and  said,  'Read!'  I  said,  'I  cannot  read;'  and  so  a 
second  and  a  third  time,  as  stands  in  the  tradition." 

But  practice  sometimes  brings  by  degrees — first  one  thing 
and  then  another  thing — to  a  measure  of  ease,  in  comparison  at  ^ 
least  with  what  came  earlier.     On  that  account  the  sections  of 
the  Qur^dn,  both  chapters  and  verses,  revealed  when  he  was  in 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  6i 

Mecca,  were  shorter  than  when  he  was  in  al-Madina.  Con- 
sider what  is  handed  down  as  to  the  reveaUng  of  chapter  ix, 
dealing  with  the  raid  of  Tabuk,  how  the  whole  or  the  greater 
part  of  it  was  revealed  while  he  was  traveling  upon  his  camel. 
At  Mecca,  on  the  other  hand,  there  would  be  revealed  to  him 
only  a  part  of  a  chapter,  some  very  short  one,  at  one  time, 
and  the  rest  would  be  revealed  at  another  time.  Similarly, 
the  last  of  that  which  was  revealed  in  al-Madlna  was  the 
"Verse  of  the  Religion"^  and  its  length  is  well  known,  while 
at  Mecca  there  used  to  be  revealed  very  short  verses.  In  that 
there  is  a  suggestion  by  which  you  may  distinguish  between 
Meccan  and  Madinan  chapters  and  verses. 

This,  then,  for  Ibn  Khaldun  is  the  sum  of  the 
nature  of  prophecy.  You  will  notice  how  careful 
he  is  to  keep  the  conception  of  the  unseen  world 
vague.  He  felt,  undoubtedly,  our  own  shrinking 
from  an  elaborately  concrete  heaven  of  the  Miltonic 
and  Dantean  type.  Beyond  the  veil  there  is  some- 
thing from  which  ideas  come  in  flashes  to  those  whose 
natures  are  such  that  they  can  perceive  them. 
These  elements  of  spiritual  intuition  are  translated 
into  terms  of  the  senses — sight,  hearing  and  the  like 
— by  the  perceiver,  because  that  is  the  only  way  in 
which  he  can  make  intelligible  what  he  has  reached. 
They  do  not  come  to  the  prophet  by  the  senses,  but 
he  unconsciously  renders  them  in  sensuous  terms, 
and  thus  they  pass  out  to  the  world.  Ibn  Khaldun 
was  compelled  by  the  theology  of  the  Qur^dn  to 
speak  of  angels,  but  it  is  obvious  that  he  much  pre- 

I  Qur.  v,  4. 


62    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

fers  the  non-concrete  terms,  and  would  rather  speak 
of  angelic  influences.  The  case  is  similar  in  regard 
to  the  Jinn,  in  whom  all  orthodox  Islam  believes, 
and  who  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Qur^dn. 
In  no  part  of  his  thesaurus  does  he  deal  with  them 
at  length,  and  his  references  by  the  way  are  always 
under  the  spur  of  necessity.  There  is  a  curious 
passage,  however,  found  only  in  certain  MSS  in 
which  he  assigns  the  verses  in  the  Qur^dn  which 
make  mention  of  revelation,  angels,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  the  Jinn  to  the  technical  class  of  "obscure 
verses"  (mtUashdbihdt) ,  those  as  to  whose  meaning 
we  have  no  certain  knowledge.  In  this  he  stands 
alone  among  presumed  orthodox  Muslims;  with 
others  there  is  no  trace  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  Jinn,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter. 

He  passes  next  to  an  analysis  of  the  nature  of 
soothsaying :' 

That,  also,  [he  says]  belongs  to  the  characteristics  of  the 
human  soul.  In  all  that  has  preceded  we  have  seen  that  the 
human  soul  has  an  equipment  for  passing  over  from  its  human- 
ity to  the  spiritual  nature  which  is  above  it.  A  flash  comes  to 
mankind  of  the  class  of  the  prophets  through  the  nature  of 
their  constitution,  which  plainly  comes  to  them  not  through  any 
acquisition,  nor  by  seeking  the  aid  of  any  of  the  channels  of 
apprehension,  nor  through  conceptions,  nor  through  bodily 
actions  in  speech  or  movement,  nor  through  anything  at  all.  It 
is  simply  a  transition  from  the  human  to  the  angelic  nature 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  99;  Bulaq,  p.  84;  de  Slane's  translation, 
Vol.  I,  p.  206. 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  63 

through  innate  constitution,  in  a  flash,  in  less  than  a  glance 
of  the  eye.  Since  that  is  so,  and  since  that  preparedness 
exists  in  human  nature  in  general,  logical  subdivision  follows. 
There  must  be  another  class  of  human  beings  who  fall  short 
of  the  first  class  to  an  extent  which  means  absolute  contra- 
riety; because  the  lack  of  seeking  aid  for  that  spiritual  appre- 
hension is  the  contrary  of  seeking  aid  for  it,  and  how  far 
apart  these  are!  Logical  division,  then,  gives  this  other  class 
of  human  beings,  having  such  a  constitution  that  their  reason- 
ing power  can  be  set  in  motion  intellectually  through  will 
aroused  by  desire,  but  who  through  weakness  of  nature,  fall 
short.  They,  therefore,  cling  for  aid  to  particular  things, 
perceived  by  the  senses  or  imagined,  such  as  transparent 
bodies  and  bones  of  animals  and  rhymes  and  words  and  birds 
and  beasts  as  these  present  themselves.  So  they  wait  for  that 
sense-perception  or  imagination,  seeking  aid  of  it  to  bring 
about  that  transition  to  spiritual  perception  which  is  their 
object;  it  is  to  them  like  a  strengthener,  and  this  force  which 
is  in  these  things  as  a  beginning  for  that  spiritual  apprehension 
is  the  essence  of  soothsaying.  Yet  because  these  souls  have 
a  defective  constitution  and  fall  short  of  completeness,  their 
apprehension  is  rather  in  particulars  than  in  universals.  On 
that  account,  the  aiding  imagination  in  them  is  so  strong, 
because  it  is  the  instrument  of  particulars.  It  has  free 
passage,  then,  in  the  particulars,  whether  waking  or  sleeping, 
and  is  present  with  these  as  a  strong  helper,  presenting  them 
and  being  to  them  like  a  mirror  in  which  they  are  constantly 
seen. 

But  the  soothsayer  cannot  attain  completely  to  the  appre- 
hension of  rational  things  because  his  inspiration  is  Satanic. 
The  loftiest  of  the  states  of  inspiration  of  which  this  class 
of  men  is  capable  is  attained  by  seeking  aid  from  rhymed 
prose  and  balanced  speech,  that  the  soothsayer  may  be 
diverted  by  that  from  the  senses  and  strengthened  in  some 


64    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

degree  for  his  limited  attaining  of  the  spiritual.  So,  on 
account  of  that  mental  agitation  and  the  external  things 
which  strengthen  it,  there  comes  into  his  mind  something 
which  his  mind  then  conveys  to  his  tongue.  And  he  some- 
times speaks  truth,  and  agrees  with  the  fact,  and  sometimes 
lies,  because  he  fills  out  what  is  lacking  in  himself  with  some- 
thing external  to  his  perceiving  self  and  separate  from  it  and 
unsuitable.  So  truth  and  falsehood  encounter  him  together, 
and  he  is  undecided  as  to  the  case,  and  often  takes  refuge  in 
opinion  and  conjecture,  out  of  desire  to  attain  success  in  his 
apprehension,  as  he  thinks,  and  equivocating  to  those  who 
help  him.^ 

The  users  of  this  rhymed  prose  are  those  who  are  peculiarly 
designated  by  the  name  of  kdhins,  because  they  are  the  best 
of  all  this  kind.  The  Prophet  has  said,  in  speaking  of  such 
as  they,  "This  belongs  to  the  rhymed  prose  of  the  kdhins.^' 
He  thus  made  rhymed  prose  theirs  peculiarly.  Also,  he  asked 
Ibn  Sayyad,^  investigating  his  state,  "How  does  this  thing 
come  to  thee?"  Ibn  Sayyad  said,  "It  comes  to  me  in  truth 
and  in  falsehood."  The  Prophet  said,  "The  affair  is  mixed  for 
thee,"  meaning  that  the  peculiarity  of  prophecy  is  truth,  and 
lying  never  at  all  befalls  it.  This  is  because  prophecy  is  a 
joining  of  the  self  of  the  prophet  with  the  Heavenly  Host, 
without  any  helper  and  without  seeking  aid  in  an  external 
thing,  but  the  possessor  of  soothsaying,  since  he  is  driven 
to  invoke  the  aid  of  external  perceptions,  these  enter  into  his 
apprehension  and  it  is  confused  thereby,  and  lying  comes  to 
him  on  that  side.  Thus  his  apprehension  cannot  be  prophecy. 
We  said  that  the  best  of  the  degrees  of  soothsaying  was 
in  the  state  of  using  rhymed  prose.     This  is  only  because 

I  An  exact  description  of  the  impression  produced  by  "  trance- 
mediums"  of  whose  honesty,  in  their  normal  state,  no  doubt  seems 
possible;  such,  for  example,  as  Mrs.  Piper. 

3  See  further,  p.  66  below.  . 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING      65 

the  essential  nature  of  rhymed  prose  is  lighter  than  all  the 
other  things  seen  and -heard,  used  to  produce  that  effect,  and 
this  essential  lightness  shows  how  close  is  the  attainment  and 
the  apprehension  of  the  spiritual  things,  and,  therefore,  how 
comparatively  slight  is  the  weakness  in  that  case. 

Some  assert  that  this  soothsaying  has  been  cut  off  since  the 
time  of  prophecy,  through  the  pelting  of  devils  (shaytdns) 
with  shooting-stars,  which  took  place  before  the  mission  of 
Muhammad;  and  that  that  pelting  was  to  keep  them  away 
from  knowledge  of  what  was  said  in  the  heavens  as  stands 
in  the  Qur^dn.^  The  soothsayers  informed  themselves  about 
that  only  by  means  of  the  devils.  So  soothsaying,  from  that 
day,  was  nullified.  But  that,  as  a  proof,  is  not  valid.  The 
knowledge  of  the  soothsayers,  just  as  it  came  from  the  devils, 
came  also  from  themselves,  as  we  have  explained.  Also,  the 
verse  in  the  Qur^dn  shows  only  that  the  devils  were  hindered 
from  one  kind  of  the  things  said  in  the  heavens;  that  is,  what 
was  connected  with  the  mission  of  Muhammad;  and  they 
were  not  hindered  from  anything  else;  also,  it  was  only  before 
the  sending  of  the  Prophet  that  this  cutting-off  took  place,  and 
perhaps  they  returned  thereafter  to  what  they  had  been  doing. 
This  is  the  plain  meaning,  because  all  these  sources  of  knowl- 
edge were  obscured  in  the  time  of  the  Prophet's  life,  just  as 
the  stars  and  lamps  are  obscured  in  the  presence  of  the  sun; 
because  prophecy  is  the  mighty  light  before  which  every  other 
light  is  dim  or  passes  away. 

Some  of  the  philosophers  have  asserted  that  soothsaying 
existed  only  before  the  coming  of  the  Prophet,  and  then  was 
cut  off,  and  that  thus  it  happened  with  every  prophet,  be- 
cause, they  said,  the  existence  of  a  prophet  involves  a  certain 
situation  of  the  spheres  which  requires  the  appearance  of  a 
prophet.  If  then,  that  situation  of  the  spheres  be  complete 
it  requires  the  appearance  of  a  prophet  in  his  complete- 

^  Qur.  XV,  18. 


66    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

ness.  But  if  it  falls  short  from  completeness,  it  requires  the 
existence  of  a  nature  of  that  same  kind,  only  incomplete. 
But  that  is  the  essential  nature  of  a  soothsayer,  as  we  have 
explained.  So  before  that  perfect  situation  of  the  spheres  is 
completed,  the  imperfect  situation  occurs  and  requires  the 
existence  of  the  soothsayer,  either  one  or  more.  Then, 
whenever  the  situation  of  the  spheres  is  complete,  the  existence 
of  the  prophet  in  his  perfection  is  complete,  and  the  travail- 
ings^  which  indicated  such  a  nature  as  that  are  accomplished, 
for  nothing  of  them  is  felt  afterwards.  All  this  is  based  upon 
the  idea  that  an  incomplete  spheral  relation  requires  part  of 
what  would  be  its  effect  if  complete;  but  that  is  not  admitted. 
Perhaps,  rather,  the  spheral  relation  requires  such  a  thing  only 
when  its  scheme  is  entire,  and  if  any  of  its  parts  be  lacking,  it 
does  not  require  anything;  not  that  it  requires  that  effect 
imperfectly,  as  they  say. 

Further,  these  soothsayers,  when  they  are  contemporary 
with  a  prophet,  know  his  truth,  worthiness,  and  the  evidence 
of  his  miracles,  since  they  have  some  of  the  ecstatic  nature  of 
the  prophet,  just  as  every  man  has  in  sleep.  Only,  the 
rational  nature  of  that  relationship  to  the  unseen  world 
exists  in  the  soothsayer  more  strongly  than  in  the  sleeper. 
The  only  thing  that  keeps  them  back  from  admitting  all  that, 
and  causes  them  to  fall  into  denial^  is  the  influence  of  their 
desire  that  this  relationship  may  be  prophecy  on  their  part. 
So  they  begin  to  oppose,  just  as  did  Umayya  ibn  Abi-s-Salt; 
for  he  desired  that  he  might  be  a  prophet.  So,  too,  it  hap- 
pened to  Ibn  Sayyad  and  to  Musaylima  and  others.  Then, 
when  the  Faith  conquered  and  those  hopes  were  cut  off,  they 
believed  with  the  best  kind  of  belief,  as  happened  to  Tulayha 
al-Asadi  and  Qarib  ibn  al-Aswad;  both  of  these,  in  the 
Muslim  conquests,  gave  evident  signs  of  belief. 

I  Cf.  Romans  8:22;  but  the  Bulaq  text  and  de  Slane's  trans- 
lation read,  "the  situations  of  the  spheres." 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  67 

This,   then,    is   Ibn   Khaldun's   doctrine   of   the 
kahins  and  prophets.     Their  nature,  broadly,  is  the 
same.     Only,  the  kdhin  required  certain  mechanical 
inducements  to  distract  the  attention  of  his  ordinary 
self,  and  give  freedom  to  his  subliminal  self.     If  we 
make  allowance  for  the  psychological  inheritance  of 
Ibn  Khaldun  from  Aristotle,  through  the  Muslim 
scholastics,  we  shall  be  compelled  to  admit  the  close 
agreement  of  his  theories  with  the  modern  doctrine 
of  the  working  of  the  different  selves.     But  you  will 
observe,  also,  that  one  point  of  contact  between  the 
kahins  and  Muhammad  is  not  taken  up  by  Ibn 
Khaldun.     He  states  the  use  of  ^af,  rhymed  prose, 
as  the  "lightest"  of  the  means  used  by  the  kahins 
to  produce  the  ecstatic  state,  apparently  meaning 
by  that  that  it  was  the  simplest,  the  least  mechanical 
of  those  devices;  but  he  gives  no  hint  that  the  whole 
of  the  Qur^dn  is  composed  in  precisely  the  same 
rhymed  prose,  and  that  in  form,  as  well  as  spirit, 
Muhammad  belonged  to  the  company  of  the  kahins. 
This,  in  him,  is  a  curious  bit  of  conservative  inheri- 
tance.    Earlier   theologians   had  been   exceedingly 
careful  to  obscure  the  likeness  between  Muhammad 
and  the  kahins,  and  had,  in  consequence,  entered 
into  elaborate  proofs  that  the  Qur^dn  was  not  written 
in  saj"",  and  that  to  apply  the  technical  terms  of  saf 
to  it  was  simple  unbelief.     Ibn  Khaldun  sees  very 
clearly  the  closeness  of  the  resemblance  between 
Muhammad  and  the  kahins,  but  he  has  not  reached 


68    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

the  point  that  the  Qur^dn,  the  Uncreated  Word  of 
God,  is  written  according  to  their  artistic  forms. 
Another  point,  which  we  could  hardly  expect  Ibn 
Khaldun  to  notice,  is  the  question  whether  Muham- 
mad did  not,  after  all,  have  means  of  bringing  on 
the  ecstatic  condition,  somewhat  similar  to  those  of 
the  kdhins.  The  records  are  so  scanty  that  we  can 
only  frame  hypotheses.  Hypnotic  parallels  would 
indicate  that  he  may  have  suggested  to  himself 
the  state  by  this  very  use  of  rhymed  prose.  He 
seems  to  have  disliked  the  use  of  it  by  others.  It  is 
also  possible  that  while  in  the  hypnotic  condition — 
if  it  was  hypnosis — he  may  have  put  himself  under 
auto-suggestion  of  its  return  at  a  certain  time.  If 
we  could  trust  in  the  slightest  the  stories  of  his 
Meccan  period,  this  might  explain  the  great  break 
in  his  revelations  when  he  feared  that  he  had  been 
deceived  and  deserted.  The  case  may  have  been, 
simply,  that  he  had  not  caught  the  knack  of  sug- 
gesting to  himself  a  return.  His  doubts,  too,  would 
give  him  a  suggestion  of  the  opposite  kind.  It  is 
peculiarly  unfortunate  that  the  fullest  descriptions 
of  his  state  under  inspiration  belong  to  his  latest 
period,  and  cannot  be  free  from  the  suspicion  that 
he  was  acting  up  to  his  accepted  role.  Still,  how- 
ever it  may  have  been  with  the  revelations  which 
in  many  cases  were  too  clearly  manufactured  or  ma- 
nipulated by  himself,  the  ecstatic  or  hypnotic  con- 
ditions in  which  he  professed  to  receive  them  may 


PROPHECY  AND  SOOTHSAYING  69 

have  remained  perfectly  genuine.  When  he  had 
come  out  of  the  state  which  he  had  learned  so  easily 
to  assume  he  could  give  anything  as  the  revelation 
received  therein.  And  it  is  always  possible  that  what 
he  vehemently  desired  may  have  seemed  to  come 
to  him  in  that  state.  The  self-deceptions  of  oriental 
ecstatics  and  mystics  most  be  accepted  as  certain, 
though  they  are  among  the  most  puzzling  problems 
of  the  history  of  religions.  There  will  be  much  more 
of  this  hereafter. 


LECTURE  III 

THE  MUSLIM  CONCEPTION  OF  INTERCOURSE 
WITH  THE  UNSEEN  WORLD  IN  SLEEP 

Ibn  Khaldun  now  goes  on  to  the  doctrine  of  inter- 
course with  the  Unseen  through  vision  or  dreaming.. 
This  had  been  fully  admitted  by  Muhammad,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  and  he  was  here  on  more  universally 
accepted  ground  than  in  his  account  of  the  kdhins. 
He  develops  his  theory  as  follows  :^ 

The  essential  nature  of  Vision  is  that  the  rational  soul 
through  its  spiritual  essence  gains  for  a  moment  information 
as  to  the  forms  of  events.  Inasmuch  as  the  soul  is  spiritual, 
the  forms  of  events  exist  in  it  actually,  as  is  the  case  with  all 
spiritual  essences,  and  it  becomes  spiritual  through  being 
stripped  of  all  material  substance  and  of  the  channels  of 
bodily  apprehension.  This  happens  to  the  rational  soul 
from  time  to  time,  for  a  moment,  because  of  sleep,  as  we  shall 
mention.  So  it  acquires  thereby  knowledge  of  the  future 
events  for  which  it  looks,  and  returns  with  that  knowledge 
to  its  channels  of  apprehension.  Then,  if  that  acquisition 
is  weak  and  lacking  in  clearness,  through  the  use  of  metaphor 
and  imagery  in  the  imagination  in  order  to  state  it,  it  has 
need  of  interpretation  on  account  of  these  metaphors.  And 
sometimes  the  acquisition  is  strong  and  can  do  without 
metaphors;  then  it  has  no  need  of  interpretation  to  clarify 
it  from  the  imagery  of  the  imagination. 

The  cause  of  the  occurrence  of  this  flash  of  perception  in 
the  soul  is  that  the  soul  is  potentially  a  spiritual  essence,  seeking 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  102;  Bulaq,  p.  86;  de  Slane's  translation, 
Vol.  I,  p.  211. 

70 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    71 

to  fulfil  itself  through  the  body  and  the  bodily  channels  of 
apprehension,  until  its  essence  may  become  pure  rationality, 
and  it  may  become  perfect  actually,  and  so  be  a  spiritual 
essence  apprehending  without  any  bodily  instruments.  So 
its  class,  as  to  the  spiritualities,  is  under  the  class  of  the 
angels,  the  People  of  the  Upper  Region,  who  need  not  seek 
to  fulfil  their  essential  nature  through  any  channels  of  appre- 
hension, bodily  or  otherwise.  The  equipment  which  leads 
to  this  perception  belongs  to  the  human  soul,  so  long  as  it  is  in 
the  body.  There  is  a  special  kind  of  it  which  belongs  to 
saints;  and  a  kind  that  is  general,  belonging  to  mankind  as 
a  whole.     The  last  is  the  basis  of  Vision. 

As  to  that  which  belongs  to  the  prophets,  it  is  a  capability 
of  passing  over  from  the  human  nature  to  the  pure  angelic 
nature,  which  is  the  loftiest  of  the  spiritual  things.  This 
capability  shows  itself  in  them  repeatedly  on  the  occasions 
of  inspiration.  And  the  state  of  inspiration,  when  it  enters 
the  domain  of  the  bodily  channels  of  apprehension,  and  there 
occurs  in  these  what  occurs  of  apprehension,  is  most  plainly 
like  to  the  state  of  sleep,  although  the  state  of  sleep  is  lower 
than  it  by  far.  On  account  of  this  likeness,  Muhammad 
used  the  expression  about  vision  that  it  was  one  of  the  six 
and  forty  parts  of  prophecy. 

Ibn  Khaldun  goes  on  to  explain  how  some  derived 
this  exact  figure  from  a  comparison  of  the  total  num- 
ber of  the  years  of  Muhammad's  prophetic  office, 
twenty-three  in  all,  and  that  first  half-year  in  which 
his  inspiration  came  to  him  in  vision  only.  In  his 
case,  dreaming  had  been  one  forty-sixth  of  the 
whole.  To  this,  however,  Ibn  Khaldun  demurs. 
Other  forms  of  the  tradition  give  other  numbers, 
one  even  seventy.     He  evidently  had  our  own  objec- 


72    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

tion  to  any  such  exact  reckoning  of  a  spiritual  rela- 
tion, but  his  stated  objection  is  that  Muhammad's 
twenty-three  years  held  of  him  only  and,  therefore, 
could  not  be  a  basis  for  a  general  law.  What  is 
meant  is  that  dreaming  and  prophetic  inspiration 
are  essentially  the  same,  with  a  very  wide  distance 
between  them. 

When  this  is  plain  to  thee,  thou  wilt  know  [he  goes  on] 
that  the  idea  of  proportion  is  the  relationship  of  the  primary 
capability,  embracing  all  mankind,  to  the  relative  capability 
peculiar  to  the  class  of  prophets,  belonging  to  their  constitu- 
tion, since  it  is  the  less  common  capability.  And,  although 
this  capability  is  general  to  all  mankind,  yet  along  with  it  are 
many  hindrances  and  restraints  preventing  the  attainment 
of  it  actually.  Among  the  strongest  of  these  are  the  external 
senses.  But  God  constituted  mankind  with  the  quality  that 
the  veil  of  the  senses  might  be  raised  in  their  natural  sleep, 
and  so  the  soul  encounters,  at  this  raising,  knowledge  of  that 
for  which  it  looks — in  the  World  of  Reality  {^dlam  al-haqq) — 
and  apprehends,  from  time  to  time,  a  flash  in  which  is  attain- 
ment of  the  thing  sought.  On  account  of  that,  the  Prophet 
called  these  moments  of  attainment  "the  Comforters"  {mu- 
bashshirdt,  "Givers  of  good  tidings.")  He  said,  "There 
remains  of  prophecy  nothing  but  the  'Comforters.'  "  They 
said,  "What  are  the  'Comforters,'  O  Apostle  of  God ?"  He 
said,  "Sound  Vision,  which  the  sound  man  sees,  or  which  is 
shown  to  him." 

The  cause  of  this  lifting  of  the  veil  in  sleep  I  will  now 
describe  to  thee.  The  apprehensions  and  the  actions  of  the 
rational  soul  are  only  by  means  of  the  physical,  animal  spirit. 
It  is  a  fine  vapor,  whose  seat  is  in  the  right  hollow  of  the 
heart,  as  is  laid  down  in  the  anatomical  books  of  Galen  and 
others,  and  it  is  sent  forth  along  with  the  blood,  in  the  arteries 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    73 

and  veins,  and  gives  sensation  and  motion  and  all  the  bodily- 
actions.  Its  fine  part  ascends  to  the  brain;  then  the  brain 
is  turned  from  its  coldness,  and  the  actions  of  the  powers 
which  are  in  its  chambers  are  accomplished.  So  the  rational 
soul  apprehends  and  reasons  only  through  this  vapory 
spirit,  and  is  joined  to  it  only  on  account  of  the  law  of  pro- 
duction which  requires  that  the  fine  shall  not  make  an  im- 
pression on  the  coarse.  Since,  then,  this  animal  spirit  is  the 
finest  among  the  bodily  substances,  it  becomes  a  locus  for  any 
workings  of  any  essence  different  from  itself  in  corporeality; 
in  this  case,  the  rational  soul.  So  the  workings  of  the  rational 
soul  are  carried  out  in  the  body  by  means  of  the  animal  spirit. 

We  have  already  said  that  apprehension  by  the  rational 
soul  is  of  two  kinds — an  apprehension  by  means  of  what  is 
external,  namely  the  five  senses,  and  an  apprehension  by 
means  of  what  is  internal,  namely  the  powers  of  the  brain, 
and  that  all  this  tends  to  hinder  the  rational  soul  from  appre- 
hending the  spiritual  essences  above  it;  yet  to  apprehend 
these  it  is  equipped  by  its  constitution.  And  since  the  external 
senses  are  physical,  they  are  exposed  to  sleep  and  indolence 
through  weariness,  and  the  soul  faints  by  multitude  of  business. 
So  God  has  created  in  it  a  search  for  rest  in  order  that  its 
power  of  apprehending  may  be  perfectly  renewed.  That 
takes  place  only  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  animal  spirit  from 
all  its  external  senses  and  its  return  to  the  internal  sense. 
Cold  in  the  night,  which  causes  the  body  to  faint,  helps  this. 
The  natural  heat  seeks  the  recesses  of  the  body,  going  from 
exterior  to  interior  and  accompanying  its  vehicle,  the  animal 
spirit.  On  account  of  this,  sleep  comes  for  the  most  part  to 
mankind  in  the  night. 

So,  when  the  spirit  withdraws  from  the  external  senses  and 
returns  to  the  internal  powers,  and  the  hindrances  and 
restraints  are  lightened  from  the  soul  and  it  returns  to  the 
^orms  which  are  stored  in  the  memory,  there  present  them- 


74    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

selves  from  the  memory,  by  combination  and  solution,  imagi- 
nary forms  mostly  customary,  because  these  forms  are  taken 
usually  from  apprehensions  which  are  frequent.  Then  the 
"general  sense,"  which  is  the  union  of  the  external  senses, 
brings  them  down  and  apprehends  them  according  to  the 
different  manners  of  the  five  external  senses. 

Often,  even,  the  soul  turns  aside  for  a  moment  to  its  spirit- 
ual essence,  in  spite  of  the  resistance  of  the  internal  power 
and  perceives  by  means  of  its  spiritual  perception,  because  it 
is  so  created,  and  acquires  some  of  the  forms  of  things  [the 
ideas],  which  then  become  joined  with  its  essence.  There- 
after, the  imagination  takes  these  forms,  thus  perceived,  and 
presents  them  either  as  they  essentially  are,  or  by  metaphor 
in  habitual  molds.  The  metaphors,  in  such  cases,  are  what 
require  interpretation. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  soul's  manipulating,  by  combina- 
tion and  solution,  the  forms  given  by  the  memory  before  it 
has  apprehended  anything  directly,  produces  the  "bundles 
of  dreams"  of  the  Qur^an.^  Muhammad  said,  "Vision  is 
three:  vision  from  God,  vision  from  the  angels,  and  vision 
from  the  devil."  This  division  corresponds  with  what  we 
have  mentioned;  the  clear  is  from  God;  the  metaphorical, 
which  calls  for  interpretation,  is  from  the  angels;  and  the 
"bundles  of  dreams"  are  from  the  devil,  because  they  are  all 
vain  and  the  devil  is  the  source  of  the  vain. 

This  is  the  essence  of  vision  and  of  what  causes  it  and  of 
the  sleep  which  accompanies  it.  It  is  the  peculiar  property 
of  the  human  soul  and  exists  among  men  in  general;  no  one 
is  free  from  it.  Every  one  of  human  kind  has  seen  in  his 
sleep  what  has  occurred  to  him  in  his  waking  hours,  times 
more  than  once.  And  there  has  resulted  to  him  the  certainty 
that  in  sleep  the  soul  apprehends  the  unseen  world.  Then, 
since  that  takes  place  in  the  world  of  sleep,  it  must  needs  be 

^     I  Qur.  xii,  44;  xxi,  5. 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    75 

possible  in  other  states.     For  the  apprehending  essence  is 
one,  and  its  properties  are  general  to  every  state. 

The  most  of  this  which  occurs  to  mankind  is  apart  from  their 
intention  and  outside  of  their  control.     The  soul  is  only  look- 
ing for  something;  then  the  dream  comes  to  it  in  that  moment 
in  sleep;  it  is  not  that  the  soul  wills  the  vision,  and  so  sees  it. 
In  the  books  of  those  who  have  written  about  ascetic  and 
mystical   exercises,   certain   names  are  given.     If  they  are 
pronounced  at  the  time  of  going  to  sleep,  a  vision  of  what  is 
looked  for  will  come  from  them.     These  are  called  al-halumiya 
[apparently   derived    from    the    Hebrew   hdldm,    "dream"]. 
The  author  of  a  book  of  the  kind  has  mentioned  one  of  these, 
which  he  calls  ''the  haluma  of  the  perfect  nature."     It  is,  that 
at  time  of  sleep,  after  the  completion  of  religious  exercises  and 
with  complete  intention  of  mind,  these  foreign  words  should 
be  pronounced  [here  follow  certain  unintelligible  combina- 
tions of  letters,  which  are  unpronounceable  as  the  vowels 
are  not  given.     They  are  probably  of  Hebrew  or   Syriac 
origin],  and  that  the  seeker  should  bear  in  mind  his  need; 
for  he  will  see  in  slumber  the  unveiling  of  that  concerning 
which  he  asks.     It  is  related  that  a  certain  man  did  that 
after  a  preparation  of  some  nights  as  to  his  food  and  religious 
exercises.     Then  a  form  appeared  to  him  saying,  "I  am  thy 
perfect  nature."     Then  the  man  asked  his  question  and  was 
told  what  he  had  been  looking  for.     To  me,  myself,  have 
come,  through  these  names,  strange  appearances,  and  I  have 
learned  by  them  details  of  my  circumstances  into  which  I 
was  looking. 

But  that  does  not  prove  that  seeking  a  dream  produces  it. 
Only,  that  these  names  produce  a  preparation  in  the  soul  for 
the  occurrence  of  a  vision.  So  the  more  prepared  the  soul 
is,  the  nearer  it  is  to  that  for  which  it  is  prepared.  It  is  for 
the  individual  to  make  what  preparation  he  pleases,  but  that 
will  not  assure  him  the  bringing  about  of  that  for  which  he  is 


76    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

prepared.    Control  of  preparation  is  not  control  of  the  thing 
itself. 

Again  you  will  observe  how  modern  Ibn  Khaldun's 
position  is.  It  is  so  modern  that  I  have  hesitated 
as  to  using  him  as  a  representative  of  Islam  and  its 
attitudes.  But  exactly  because  he  is  so  modern,  his 
evidence  is  all  the  more  overwhelming.  In  this 
case,  for  example,  he  has  no  shadow  of  doubt  as  to 
the  reality  of  true  dreams.  His  classification  of 
dreams,  in  general,  is  that  of  the  whole  Muslim 
world.  But  he  feels  the  necessity  of  rationalizing  it 
for  himself.  There  his  psychology — a  physiological 
psychology  too — comes  in.  It  is  an  innate  quality  of 
the  soul  which  gives  this  power;  a  primary,  unex- 
plainable  thing  which  must  be  taken  for  granted. 
Spells  and  exercises  can  only  prepare  the  soul  for 
the  appearance  of  this  power ;  they  do  not  force  the 
power  out.  Exactly  so  the  hypnotic  condition  is 
induced,  not  caused,  by  mechanical  means.  One 
automatic  writer,  for  example,  begins  invariably  by 
writing  the  words,  ^'Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day." 
But  the  sentence  is  never  completed;  the  suggestion 
is  enough.  With  another  the  first  words  written  are, 
"Let  me  name  your  name,"  or  part  of  that  sentence. 
Ibn  Khaldun would  recognize  here  at  once  thecounter- 
part  of  his  barbarous  gibberish  for  use  at  bedtime. 
It  goes  to  put  the  rational  soul  in  the  attitude  which 
enables  it  to  free  itself  from  the  trammels  of  the  senses 
and  to  exercise  its  own  power  of  apprehension. 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    77 

This  becomes  still  clearer  in  the  special  section' 
which  he  has  devoted  to  the  science,  or  rather  art, 
of  the  interpretation  of  dreams.  People  have  always 
dreamt  dreams,  he  says,  and  there  have  always  been 
interpreters  of  dreams.  But  the  Muslim  oneiro- 
critic  science  and  art  are  peculiar  to  Islam  and  are 
not  derived  from  any  preceding  system.  This 
opinion  is  probably  due  to  Ibn  Khaldun's  close  join- 
ing of  dreaming  and  prophecy;  the  interpretation 
of  dreams  must  be  semi-sacred  and  due  entirely  to 
Muslims.  On  general  principles,  however,  we  may 
be  tolerably  certain  that  their  books  are  based  on 
those  of  the  Greek  oneirocritic  writers.  And,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  find  in  the  Fihrist,  a  catalogue 
raisonne  of  Arabic  literature  of  about  looo  A.  d. 
in  the  section  (p.  316)  on  the  interpretation  of 
dreams,  mention  of  translations  of  the  works  of 
Artemidorus  and  Porphyry,  the  neo-Platonist.''  The 
Prophet,  he  goes  on,  and  his  Companions  all  inter- 
preted dreams.  After  morning  prayer,  for  example, 
Muhammad  used  to  ask  whether  anyone  had  had  a 
dream.  Dreams,  suitably  interpreted,  kept  up  the 
hearts  of  his  followers.  And  the  amount  of  interpre- 
tation necessary  would  vary  with  the  character  of  the 
dream.  The  rational  soul,  by  its  nature,  has  an 
absolute  power  of  perception  in  the  spiritual  world. 

1  Beyrout  edition,  p.  475;    Bulaq,  p.  396;   de  Slane's  transla- 
tion, Vol.  in,  p.  114. 

2  On  Muslim  dream- books  see  an  article  by  N.  Bland  in  the 
Journal  oj  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society^  Vol.  XVI,  p.  153. 


78    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

This  it  can  exercise  in  the  sleep  of  the  body  and  its 
senses.  But  it  is  only  ideas  which  it  gets  in  that 
way.  So  it  brings  them  back  to  the  body  with  its 
apparatus  of  the  internal  senses.  Then  the  imagina- 
tion takes  them  and  decks  them  out  in  such  images 
from  the  stores  of  the  memory  as  are  suited  to  repre- 
sent them.  Thus  in  sensuous  form  they  are  brought 
to  the  "common-sense"  of  Aristotle  and  so  perceived 
by  the  sleeper. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  imagination  brings 
images  from  the  memory,  uninformed  with  ideas 
from  the  rational  soul,  the  sleeper  sees  dreams  which 
have  no  meaning.  Sometimes  these  are  called 
Satanic  dreams,  as  being  stirred  up  by  Satan  with 
intention  to  mislead. 

The  problem,  then,  of  the  interpreter  is  to  work 
back  to  the  idea  perceived  by  the  rational  soul  in 
>  its  own  spiritual  world,  through  the  images  in  which 
the  imagination  has  expressed  it.  This  problem  is 
sometimes  very  simple,  as  the  idea  may  be  clothed 
in  forms  so  immediate  to  it  that  there  can  be  no 
question  of  the  meaning.  Sometimes  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult, when  the  clothing  is  in  metaphors:  a  snake, 
for  example,  stands  for  enmity,  or  a  sea  for  a  sultan. 
The  sensuous  clothing  will  always  be  derived  from 
the  range  of  experience  of  the  dreamer;  he  can  never 
see  a  thing  in  his  sleep  that  he  has  not  seen  awake, 
though  new  ideas  may  be  conveyed  to  him  under 
the  old  forms.     So  the  interpretation  will  depend 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    79 

upon  a  knowledge  of  the  range  of  experience  of  the 
dreamer ;  with  different  people  the  same  thing  may 
mean  different  ideas. 

Further,  true  dreams  have  marks  which  attest  their 
verity.  One  is  that  the  sleeper  at  once  awakes,  hast- 
ening, as  it  were,  under  the  shock,  to  re-enter  the 
domain  of  sense.  Another  is  that  the  impression 
of  the  true  dream  does  not  fade  but  imprints  itself 
with  all  its  details  on  the  memory  and  cannot  be  for- 
gotten. The  reason  is  that  true  dreams  are  flashes 
of  perception  by  the  rational  soul,  are  not  imparted 
in  time,  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  operations  of 
the  brain,  and,  therefore,  are  not  subject  to  the  acci- 
dents of  time  or  memory.  In  this,  too,  there  is  kin- 
ship between  true  dreams  and  prophecy. 

But  now,  leaving  Ibn  Khaldun  for  a  time,  I  must, 
by  an  accumulation  of  examples,  bring  home  to  you 
how  absolute  is  the  Muslim  trust  in  this  minor  form 
of  revelation.  It  is  a  part  of  the  paradox  of  Islam. 
Viewed  in  one  way,  Allah  is  throned  afar  from  his 
creation  in  unattainable  glory,  and  between  him  and 
it  there  can  be  no  contact  save  through  miracle,  and 
then  only  irrationally.  But  viewed  in  another  way, 
Allah  and  the  spiritual  world  are  very  close  to  every 
human  heart.  There  is  no  man  but  has  enjoyed 
in  his  hours  of  sleep  some  measure  of  inspiration  and 
some  access  to  that  world.  In  this  way  all  men  are 
prophets  to  some  extent,  and  every  man,  unless  by 
evil  life  he  has  given  the  devil  power  to  deceive  him 


8o    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  can  learn  of  God's  truth. 
But  the  matter  goes  even  farther.  Dreams  are  on 
record,  and  the  veracity  of  the  narrators  of  them 
cannot  be  doubted,  in  which  God  himself  was  per- 
sonally seen;  the  dream-books  give  sections  to  the 
interpretation  of  such  appearances.  This  was  too 
common  to  be  an  eccentricity;  it  was  part  of  the 
normal  possibility.  Here  is  what  al-Ghazzali,  to 
whom  I  have  already  referred,  has  to  say  on  its 
manner  and  actuality.^ 

He  who  does  not  know  the  true  nature  of  vision  [or 
dreaming]  does  not  know  the  true  natures  of  the  different 
kinds  of  vision,  and  he  who  does  not  know  the  true  nature 
of  the  vision  of  Muhammad  and  the  other  prophets,  nay, 
even  of  the  dead  in  general,  does  not  know  the  vision  of 
God  in  dream.  So  the  ordinary  man  imagines  that  whoever 
sees  Muhammad  in  a  dream  has  seen  his  actual  person.  But 
just  as  an  idea  which  comes  to  the  soul  is  rendered  by  the 
imagination  with  a  word,  so  every  impression  made  on  the 
soul  has  a  form  assigned  to  it  by  the  imagination.  How,  too, 
could  there  be  a  vision  of  the  person  of  the  Prophet  in  a  dream, 
when  that  person  has  been  committed  to  his  grave  at  al- 
Madina  and  has  not  left  that  to  go  to  the  place  where  the 
sleeper  saw  him.  And  even  if  we  let  that  go,  the  Prophet  is 
often  seen  by  a  thousand  sleepers  in  one  night  in  a  thousand 
places  and  in  different  forms.  And  instinct  supports  reason 
in  declaring  that  one  person  cannot  be  seen  at  one  time  in 
two  places  nor  in  two  different  forms.  Whoever  does  not 
grasp  that  has  contented  himself,  in  the  sphere  of  reason,  with 
names  and  descriptions  instead  of  realities  and  ideas.  After 
that  we  need  neither  rebuke  him  nor  speak  to  him. 

I  Al-Madnun,  p.  5,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  H.  1303. 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    8l 

But  perhaps  he  will  say  that  what  he  sees  is  the  image 
{mithdl)  of  the  Prophet,  not  his  person  (shakhs).  Then  it  is 
either  the  image  of  his  person  or  the  image  of  his  actual 
sanctified  spirit  which  is  apart  from  form  or  shape.  If  of 
his  person,  which  is  bones  and  flesh,  what  need  have  we  of 
that  person  ?  His  person,  in  itself,  is  an  object  of  the  imagina- 
tion and  the  senses.  Then,  whoever  saw  it  after  death,  apart 
from  his  spirit,  would  not  see  the  Prophet  but  a  body  which 
used  to  move  when  the  Prophet  moved  it.  How  then  can 
he  see  the  Prophet,  when  he  sees  the  image  of  his  person  ? 
The  truth  is  that  it  is  the  image  of  the  Prophet's  sanctified 
spirit,  the  site  of  prophecy,  which  he  sees;  not  his  spirit  or 
substance  or  person,  but  his  image  in  actuality. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  ''What  then  does  his  saying  mean, 
'He  who  has  seen  me  in  dream,  has  seen  me;  for  the  devil 
does  not  make  himself  like  to  me'?"  It  only  means  that 
what  the  dreamer  sees  is  an  image,  acting  as  a  link  between 
the  Prophet  and  himself,  instructing  him  as  to  the  truth. 
Just  as  the  prophetic  substance,  that  is  the  sanctified  spirit 
which  remains  of  the  Prophet  after  death,  is  free  from  color 
and  form  and  shape,  and  yet  knowledge  from  it  reaches  his 
people  by  means  of  a  truthful  image,  possessing  color  and  form 
and  shape,  while  the  prophetic  substance  is  free  from  that,  so 
similarly,  the  essence  of  God  is  free  from  shape  and  form, 
but  knowledge  from  Him  reaches  the  creature  by  means  of  a 
sensuous  image  of  light  or  some  other  beautiful  form,  fitted 
to  be  an  image  for  the  essential  intellectual  beauty  which  has 
neither  form  nor  color.  That  image  then  is  truthful  and 
real  and  a  link  in  passing  on  knowledge.  So  the  sleeper  says, 
"I  saw  God  in  dream,"  not  meaning  that  he  saw  his  essence, 
just  as  he  says,  "I  saw  the  Prophet,"  not  meaning  that  he 
saw  his  essence  and  his  spirit,  or  the  essence  of  his  person, 
but  that  he  saw  his  image. 

But  it  may  be  said,  "The  Prophet  has  a  like  (mithl)  but 


82    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

God  has  no  like."  That  ignores  the  distinction  between  the 
"Hke"  and  the  "image."  ''Image"  is  not  an  expression  for 
"like,"  for  "Hke"  is  an  expression  for  that  which  is  equal  in 
all  its  quaHties,  but  "image"  does  not  call  for  equality.^  The 
reason  is  something  to  which  there  is  nothing  like,  yet  we 
can  use  the  sun  as  an  image  [symbol]  for  it,  because  of  their 
relationship  in  one  point.  Sensuous  percepts  are  shown  by 
the  light  of  the  sun,  and  intellectual  percepts  by  reason. 
This  measure  of  relationship  suffices  in  an  image.  Nay,  a 
sultan  may  be  represented  in  sleep  by  the  sun,  and  a  wazir 
by  the  moon.  They  are  not  equivalents  in  form  or  idea. 
Only  a  sultan  bears  universal  rule  and  affects  everything,  and 
so  far  the  sun  is  related  to  him.  And  just  as  a  wazIr  is  an 
intermediary  between  the  sultan  and  his  people  in  conveying 
the  effect  of  just  decrees,  so  the  moon  is  an  intermediary 
between  the  sun  and  the  earth  in  carrying  the  effect  of  light. 
But  these  are  images  and  not  equivalents. 

Further,  many  dreams  were  presented  to  the  Prophet  in 
which  milk  and  a  cord,  and  the  like,  bore  a  part.  He  explained 
that  milk  meant  Islam;  as  milk  is  the  food  of  the  external 
life,  so  Islam  of  the  internal.  And  the  cord  was  the  Qur^dn 
by  which  we  were  drawn  to  safety.  Similarly,  God  has  no 
equivalent,  but  he  has  images  resembling  intellectual  rela- 
tionships to  his  qualities.  Whenever  we  wish  to  teach  an 
enquirer  how  God  creates  things  and  knows  them  and  wills 
them,  and  how  he  speaks,  and  speech  exists  in  its  own  person, 
we  use  man  as  an  image  for  all  that.  And  if  man  did  not 
know  the  quality  from  himself,  he  would  not  understand  the 
image  in  the  case  of  God.  An  image  is  possible  in  God's 
case,  and  an  equivalent  is  false;  for  an  image  explains  but 
an  equivalent  resembles. 

But  it  may  be  said,   "What  you  have  mentioned  does  not 

^Al-Ghazzali  is  evidently  using  this  word  mithdl,  which  I  have 
rendered  "  image  "  in  the  sense  of  "  symbol." 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    83 

lead  to  the  conclusion  that  God  is  seen,  nay,  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Prophet  even  is  not  seen — for  seeing  a  symbol  is  not 
seeing  the  thing  itself — how,  then,  did  he  say,  'Whoever  sees 
me  in  dream  sees  me'?  This  must  be  an  illicit  metaphor 
meaning  'as  though  he  saw  me.'  "  We  reply  that  exactly  the 
same  thing  is  meant  when  anyone  says  that  he  saw  God  in 
dream.  He  does  not  mean  that  he  saw  him  in  his  essence  as 
he  is.  For  it  is  generally  admitted  that  the  essence  of  God 
cannot  be  seen,  but  that  an  image  which  the  sleeper  believes 
to  be  the  essence  of  God,  or  to  be  the  essence  of  the  Prophet 
can  be  seen.  The  existence  of  such  dreams  cannot  be  denied; 
even  if  one  individual  has  not  seen  them  unanimous  tradition 
must  compel  him  to  believe  in  them.  Only  the  image  some- 
times is  truthful  and  sometimes  is  lying.  When  it  is  truthful, 
it  means  that  God  makes  the  vision  a  link  between  the  seer 
and  the  Prophet  to  teach  him  something;  it  is  within  the 
power  of  God  to  create  such  a  link  between  a  creature  and  his 
attaining  of  the  truth. 

You  will  notice  that  al-Ghazzali  is  essentially  at 
one  with  Ibn  Khaldun,  though  he  does  not  work  out 
the  psychology  of  the  situation  with  such  detail. 
What  goes  on  in  the  brain  of  the  dreamer  is  not  his 
center  of  interest,  rather  the  divine  working  behind 
the  curtain.  But  that  dreams  consist  of  ideas  con- 
veyed to  the  sleeper  and  by  him  clothed  in  familiar 
forms  and,  so  to  speak,  dramatized,  in  that  he  agrees 
with  Ibn  Khaldun. 

Here  now  are  some  stories  of  Muslim  dreams. 
You  will  find  them  marvelously  clear  and  coherent, 
more  suggestive  of  Du  Maurier's  "dreaming  true" 
than  of  our  usual  jumbles.     But,  just  as  with  us, 


84    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

there  are  individuals  who  dream  rarely  but  then 
with  extraordinary  clearness  and  connection,  it  may 
be  that  Orientals,  simply  from  their  belief  in  them, 
may  attain  frequently  to  that  clarity.  Further,  I 
have  been  careful  to  pick,  as  my  illustrations,  cases 
which  we  have  absolutely  at  first  hand. 

The  following  would  be  admitted  even  by  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research.  The  dreamer  him- 
self, Ibn  Khallikan,  a  theologian,  a  lawyer,  a  gram- 
marian and  a  litterateur,  who  died  in  1282  (a.  d.) 
hats  told  it  in  his  Biographical  Dictionary,^  of  which 
an  autograph  MS  is  preserved  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum.    He  says : 

I  once  saw  al-Mubarrad  in  dream  and  had  a  very  strange 
affair  with  him;  so  I  desire  to  tell  it.  I  was  in  Alexandria  in 
the  year  636  [a.  h.]  and  remained  there  for  five  months.  I 
had  there  al-Mubarrad's  book,  the  Kdmil,  and  the  '^Iqd  of  Ibn 
cAbd  Rabbihi,  and  used  to  read  in  them. 

He  then  tells  of  a  contradiction  in  the  ^Iqd  of  a 
statement  of  al-Mubarrad's  in  the  Rawda,  another 
of  his  books,  which  interested  him,  and  goes  on : 

A  few  nights  after  I  had  come  upon  this  passage,  I  saw  in 
dream  as  though  I  was  in  Aleppo  in  the  college  of  the  Qadi 
Baha  ad-Din,  known  as  Ibn  Shaddad,  where  I  had  been  a 
student.  And  it  was  as  though  we  had  prayed  the  afternoon 
prayer  in  the  place  where  the  general  custom  was  that  prayer 
should  take  place.  Then,  when  I  had  finished  my  prayer, 
I  rose  to  go  away;  but  I  saw  at  the  rear  of  the  place  a  person 

I  Wiistenf eld's  edition,  No.  647;  de  Slane's  translation,  Vol. 
in,  P-  33- 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    85 

standing  and  praying.  One  of  those  present  said  to  me, 
''That  is  al-Mubarrad."  So  I  went  to  him  and  sat  beside 
him,  waiting  until  he  finished.  When  he  had  finished,  I 
saluted  him  and  said,  "I  have  just  been  reading  your  book, 
the  Kamil.'"  He  said  to  me,  "Have  you  seen  my  book,  the 
Rawda  ?"  I  said,  ''No."  I  had  not  seen  it  before  that  time. 
Then  he  said,  "Come  and  I  will  show  it  to  you."  So  I 
went  with  him,  and  he  went  up  with  me  to  his  house,  and  we 
went  in,  and  I  saw  in  it  a  great  many  books.  He  sat  in  front 
of  them,  searching  for  it,  and  I  sat  over  against  him.  Then  he 
took  out  a  volume  and  handed  it  to  me.  I  opened  it  and 
left  it  in  my  lap.  Thereafter  I  said,  "They  have  got  hold  of 
something  against  you  here."  "What  have  they  got  hold  of  ?  " 
he  asked.  I  said,  "You  have  accused  Abu  Nuwas  of  error 
in  such  and  such  a  verse,"  and  I  quoted  it  to  him.  "Cer- 
tainly," he  said,  "there  is  an  error  there."  "No,"  I  said,  "he 
was  right,  and  they  say  that  you  were  wrong  in  blaming  him." 
"How  is  that?"  he  said.  So  I  told  him  what  the  author 
of  the  ^Iqd  had  said,  and  he  bit  the  end  of  his  fore-finger  and 
kept  staring  at  me  absentmindedly  as  though  confounded. 
Then  I  awoke  from  my  dream  while  he  was  still  in  that  state. 

Al-Mubarrad,  I  may  say,  died  in  A.  D.,  898,  almost 
400  years  before  Ibn  Khallikan. 

Another  dream,  to  which  Ibn  Khallikan  alludes 
briefly/  was  of  a  MS,  a  single  gathering,  containing 
traditions  handed  down  orally,  and  traced  back  to  a 
certain  Surayj.  In  both  cases  he  seems  to  have 
had  no  question  that  his  dreams  were  veridical;  that 
he  had  had  a  conversation  with  al-Mubarrad,  and 
had  seen  and  read  an  actual  MS. 

I  Wustenfeld's  edition,  No.  20;  de  Slane's  translation,  Vol.  I 
P-47- 


86    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Ibn  Khallikan  is  a  thoroughly  representative 
Muslim  figure.  But  if  it  should  be  thought  that 
a  theologian  and  lawyer  might  be  touched  with 
superstition,  take  the  case  of  al-Beruni,  who  died  in 
1048  (a.  d.),  probably,  almost  certainly,  the  greatest 
scientist  of  his  time.  He  was  a  man  of  a  thoroughly 
critical,  objective  mind,  an  astronomer,  a  chronolo- 
gist  and  a  calm-headed  student  of  custom  and  reli- 
gion. Yet  he  had  his  dream,  which  he  himself 
narrates.^  It  was  in  the  last  night  of  his  sixty-first 
year,  and  he  dreamed  that  he  looked  for  the  new 
moon  in  the  quarter  where  it  should  appear.  Then 
he  heard  a  voice,  ''Leave  the  new  moon  alone; 
thou  art  its  son,  one  hundred  and  ninety  times." 
This  he  took  to  mean  that  he  would  live  still  one 
hundred  and  ninety  lunar  months.  That  his  actual 
life  fell  short  a  month  testifies,  if  anything,  to  the 
historicity  of  the  story. 

Frequently,  to  return  to  the  religious  world,  a 
dream  is  given  as  a  reason  for  going  on  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca,  and  even  for  giving  one's  self  to  the 
religious  life.  Even  more  than  in  Christendom,  con- 
versions in  the  theological  sense  have  been  worked 
among  Muslims  by  dreams. 

By  such  means,  as  he  himself  tells  in  his  Travel- 
Book,^  was  Nasir  ibn  Khusraw  turned  from  the 

I  Chronologie  orientalischer  V biker ,  p.  xii. 

a  Schefer's  edition,  p.  3;  cf.  E.  S.  Browne,  Literary  History 
0}  Persia,  Vol.  II,  p.  221. 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    87 

world.  He  was  a  secretary  in  the  service  of  the 
state  at  Merv,  and  devoted  to  wealth  and  the  pleas- 
ures it  brings.  In  October,  1045,  (a.  d.)  he  con- 
fesses that  he  took  the  opportunity  of  a  favorable 
astrological  situation  to  address  to  Allah  a  special 
prayer  for  wealth.  Under  such  circumstances,  he 
believed  it  would  be  heard.  Then  he  went  to  a 
neighboring  town,  and  gave  himself  up  for  a  month 
to  wine.  He  was  plainly  in  a  completely  unregener- 
ate  condition,  and  jumbled  together  religion,  astrol- 
ogy, his  worldly  ambitions,  and  his  pleasures. 
But  one  night  he  saw  in  dream  a  figure  which 
addressed  him  thus :  "  How  long  wilt  thou  drink  the 
wine  that  deprives  man  of  reason  ?  It  were  better 
that  thou  shouldst  return  to  thyself."  He  answered, 
"The  wise  have  found  nothing  better  than  wine  to 
dissipate  the  cares  of  this  world."  "The  loss  of 
reason  and  of  the  possession  of  thyself,"  the  figure 
replied,  "do  not  give  peace  to  the  spirit.  The  wise 
cannot  commend  to  any  to  give  himself  to  be  guided 
by  madness ;  there  is  rather  need  to  seek  that  which 
will  increase  wisdom  and  inheritance."  ''How,"  he 
replied,  "can  I  get  it  for  myself  ?"  "He  who  seeks, 
finds,"  added  the  form,  and  indicated  with  a  gesture 
the  direction  of  Mecca. 

This  dream  changed  his  life.  However  his  own 
psychological  condition  may  have  been  prepared, 
there  was  no  question  to  his  mind  of  the  suddenness 
with  which  his  conversion  came.     With  the  morn- 


88    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

ing  he  determined  to  give  up  everything  for  which 
he  had  lived  for  forty  years.  His  secretaryship  he 
resigned;  his  wealth  he  abandoned  except  what 
was  needed  for  the  journey;  and  on  March  6,  1046, 
he  set  out  from  Merv  on  pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 
Thereafter  his  life  was  that  of  a  wandering  rehgious, 
and  he  died  as  a  hermit  in  the  mountains  of  Badakh- 
shan,  in  1088.  His  is  in  many  respects  a  perplexing 
personality,  and  legend  has  cast  round  him  a  nimbus 
of  mingled  miracle  and  heresy,  but  the  great  fact  of 
this  sudden  conversion  is  firm. 

Another  sudden  conversion  by  a  similar  means 
befell  al-Ash'^ari,  the  founder  of  the  Ash^arite  system 
of  scholastic  theology,  now  dominant  for  800  years 
in  the  Muslim  church.  He  had  been  brought  up 
a  Mu^tazilite,  that  is,  in  the  heretical  school  which 
denied,  on  rationalistic  principles,  such  doctrines  of 
Islam  as  that  the  Qur^dn  was  the  Eternal  Word  of 
God,  that  God  would  be  seen  by  the  believers  in 
Paradise  and  that  God  created  all  the  actions  of  his 
creatures.  Generally,  they  applied  argument  to 
theology,  and  did  not,  like  the  orthodox  Muslims, 
content  themselves  with  statements  of  the  faith  of 
the  fathers  as  derived  from  the  Qur^dn  and  the  per- 
sonal words  of  Muhammad. 

As  a  Mu^tazilite,  then,  al-Ash^ari  lived,  taught, 
and  fought  for  thirty  or  forty  years.  But  he  sprang 
of  the  blood  of  the  desert,  and  with  the  Semitic 
consciousness   for  direct   and  mandatory  faith  he 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    89 

grew  to  be  weary  at  heart  of  the  dry  logicalities  of 
his  fellows.  Also  the  sequel  makes  it  evident  that 
he  was  coming  to  recognize — though  the  recogni- 
tion was  still  below  the  surface  of  his  consciousness 
— that  a  purely  rationalistic  theology  is  absurd, 
and  that  the  mysteries  of  the  universe  cannot  be 
expressed  in  terms  of  human  thought.  His  soul 
was  yearning  within  for  a  direct  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord!" — a  voice  of  authority  and  peace.  He  was 
on  his  way  to  a  spiritual  crisis,  which  came  one 
Ramadan  in  his  snatches  of  sleep,  wearied  with 
fasting  and  prayer.  The  story  has  reached  us  in 
several  different  forms;  I  give  here  the  one'  which 
seems  to  me  to  hang  best  together  psychologically. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  to  him,  as  a  Mu^tazilite, 
dreams  had  little  value.  It  is  the  more  remarkable, 
then,  to  find  his  experience  taking  that  form: 

While  I  was  sleeping  on  one  of  the  first  ten  nights  of  the 
month  of  Ramadan,  I  saw  the  Prophet,  and  he  said  to  me, 
"O  "^Ali,  help  the  tenets  handed  down  from  me,  for  they 
are  true."  Then  when  I  awoke  great  distress  fell  upon  me, 
and  I  ceased  not  to  be  full  of  thought  and  care  on  account 
of  my  dream  and  because  of  the  position  which  I  held  that  the 
proofs  were  clear  which  contradicted  those  tenets.  At  last, 
on  one  of  the  middle  ten  nights,  I  saw  the  Prophet  in  dream, 
and  he  said  to  me,  "What  hast  thou  done  in  the  matter  con- 
cerning which  I  commanded  thee?"  I  said,  "O  Apostle, 
what  can  I  do?     I  have  extracted  from  the  tenets  handed 

I  Spitta,  Zur  Geschichfe  AhuH-Hasan  al-Ai<^arfs,  p.  118; 
Arabic  text  emended. 


90    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

down  from  thee  certain  positions  which  theological  reasoning 
permits,  and  I  have  followed  the  sound  proof  which  can  be 
applied  universally  to  the  Creator."  Then  he  said,  "Help 
the  tenets  handed  down  from  me;  for  they  are  true."  I 
awoke  heavy  with  grief  and  sorrow  and  determined  to  abandon 
theological  reasoning;  I  gave  myself  also  to  the  study  of  the 
traditions  of  the  Prophet,  and  to  reciting  the  Qur^dn. 

Then,  when  the  twenty-seventh  night  came,  in  which  night 
it  was  our  custom  in  al-Basra  that  the  professional  reciters 
of  the  Qur^dn  and  the  people  of  science  and  excellence  should 
gather  and  recite  the  whole  of  the  Qur^dn,  I  was  with  them, 
according  to  that  custom.  But  such  a  drowsiness  seized  me 
that  I  could  not  stand  up.  And  when  I  reached  my  house 
I  slept;  and  I  was  in  great  distress  through  sorrow,  on  account 
of  the  recitation  that  night  which  I  had  lost.  Then  I  saw  the 
Prophet,  and  he  said  to  me,  "What  hast  thou  done  in  that 
which  I  commanded  thee?"  I  said,  "I  have  abandoned 
theological  reasoning  and  applied  myself  to  the  Book  of 
Allah  and  to  the  record  of  thy  sayings  and  doings."  But  he 
said  to  me,  "Did  I  command  thee  to  abandon  theological 
reasoning  ?  I  commanded  thee  only  to  help  the  tenets  handed 
down  from  me,  for  they  are  true."  Then  I  said,  "O  Apostle 
of  God,  how  can  I  leave  the  tenets  whose  elements  I  have 
clearly  apprehended  and  whose  proof  I  know  this  thirty 
years  for  a  dream  ?"  He  said  to  me,  "If  I  did  not  know  that 
God  will  give  thee  a  special  aid  from  himself,  I  would  not  stand 
up  from  beside  thee  until  I  had  expounded  to  thee  those 
positions.  And,  since  thou  reckonest  this  my  coming  to  thee 
a  [mere]  dream,  was  my  seeing  Gabriel  a  [mere]  dream? 
Thou  wilt  not  see  me  in  this  fashion  hereafter;  so  apply  thy- 
self to  these  things,  for  God  will  give  thee  a  special  aid  from 
himself."  Then  I  awoke,  and  said,  "After  the  truth  there  is 
naught  but  straying."  And  I  began  to  defend  the  traditions 
dealing  with  dreaming  and  the  intercession  of  the  Prophet 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    91 

and  the  vision  of  God,  etc.  And  there  used  to  come  to  me 
something  of  which,  by  Allah,  I  had  never  heard  a  particle 
from  my  opponents,  nor  had  I  seen  concerning  it  in  any  book. 
So  I  knew  that  it  belonged  to  that  aidance  of  God  most  High, 
concerning  which  the  Apostle  of  God  had  given  me  good 
tidings. 

That  al-Ash^ari  had  some  such  dreams  as  these 
and  with  such  consequences  I  make  no  doubt,  al- 
though, unfortunately,  the  precise  form  is  left  uncer- 
tain to  us.  Out  of  doubt,  too,  is  the  momentous 
character  of  these  dreams ;  they  marked  a  turning- 
point  in  the  religious  history  of  Islam.  This  was 
what  is  called,  "the  return  of  al-Ash^ari"  from  the 
Mu^tazilites  to  the  orthodox,  bringing  back  with 
him  the  weapons  of  scholastic  disputation  which  had 
before  been  found  among  the  Mu^tazilites  only. 
From  his  time  on,  the  orthodox  defended  their  faith 
with  syllogisms  as  well  as  traditions ;  this  fell  in  300 
of  the  Hijra,  a.  d.  913. 

Let  me  leap  now,  suddenly,  to  quite  modern 
times  and  to  an  experience  of  Burton's  at  Mecca. 
There  he  met  a  company  of  pilgrims  which  attracted 
his  especial  attention:  * 

They  were  Panjabis,  [he  tells  us^]  and  the  bachelor's 
history  was  instructive.  He  was  gaining  an  honest  livelihood 
in  his  own  country,  when  suddenly,  one  night,  Hazrat  Ali, 
dressed  in  green,  and  mounted  upon  his  charger,  Duldul — 
at  least  so  said  the  narrator— appeared,  crying  in  a  terrible 
voice,    "How  long  wilt  thou  toil  for  this  world,  and  be  idle 

I  Pilgrimage,  Vol.  II,  p.  184,  edition  of  London,  1898. 


92    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

about  the  world  to  come?"  From  that  moment,  like  an  ■) 
English  murderer,  he  knew  no  peace;  conscience  and  Hazrat 
Ali  haunted  him.  Finding  life  unendurable  at  home,  he 
sold  everything;  raised  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  and  started 
for  the  Holy  Land.  He  reached  Jeddah  with  a  few  rupees  in 
his  pocket;  and  came  to  Mecca,  where,  everything  being 
exorbitantly  dear  and  charity  all  but  unknown,  he  might 
have  starved,  had  he  not  been  received  by  his  old  friend. 

But  the  truth  is  that  there  is  hardly  a  Muslim  of 
eminence  but  stories  are  told  of  dreams  seen  by  him 
or  affecting  him.  Here  are  two  about  al-Ghazzali. 
The  first  has  much  psychological  truth,  and  is  given 
thus  in  his  own  words  :^ 

I  used  at  first  to  deny  the  ecstatic  states  of  the  saints  and  the 
grades  of  advancement  of  the  initiated,  until  I  companied  with 
my  Shaykh  Yusuf  an-Nassaj  at  Tus,  and  he  kept  polishing 
at  me,  until  I  was  graced  with  revelations,  and  I  saw  God 
in  a  dream  and  he  said  to  me,  "O  Abu  Hamid!"  I  said, 
''Is  Satan  speaking  to  me?"  He  said,  "Nay,  but  I  am 
God  that  encompasseth  all  thy  ways;  Ami  not  [thy  Lord]  ?"* 
Then  he  said,  "O  Abu  Hamid,  abandon  thy  formal  rules, 
and  company  with  the  people  whom  I  have  made  the  resting- 
place  of  my  regard  in  my  earth;  they  are  they  who  have  sold 
the  Two  Abodes  for  my  love."  Then  I  said,  "By  thy  might,  I 
adjure  thee  to  give  me  again  to  taste  good  thought  of  them!" 
Then  he  said,  "I  do  so;  that  which  separated  betv\^een  thee 
and  them  was  thy  being  occupied  by  the  love  of  this  world,  so 
come  out  from  it  by  free  will  before  thou  comest  out  from  it 
abjectly  [at  death].     I  pour  forth  upon  thee  lights  from  the 

1  "Life"  in  Journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Society,  Vol. 
XX,  p.  89. 

2  Qur.  vii,  171. 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  UNSEEN  IN  SLEEP    93 

protection  of  my  holiness,  so  seize  them  and  apply  thyself." 
Then  I  awoke  in  great  joy  and  went  to  my  Shaykh  Yusuf  an- 
Nassaj  and  related  to  him  the  dream.  And  he  smiled  and  said, 
"O  Abu  Hamid,  these  changing  states  and  grades  we  obliterate 
with  our  feet;  yea,  if  thou  companiest  with  me,  the  glance  of 
thy  insight  will  be  anointed  with  the  ointment  of  succor 
until  thou  seest  the  empyreal  throne  and  those  around  it. 
Thou  wilt  not  be  satisfied  with  that  until  thou  witnessest  that 
to  which  glances  cannot  attain,  and  thou  wilt  be  purified 
from  the  uncleanness  of  thy  nature  and  ascend  beyond  the 
limits  of  thy  reason  and  hear  discourse  from  God  most  High, 
like  Moses,  Verily,  I  am  God,  the  lord  of  the  worlds."^ 

In  this,  without  question,  there  is  genuine  auto- 
biographical value.  The  following,^  however,  is  only 
of  value  as  showing  us  what  passed  current  with 
the  people;  yet  it  is  told  by  an  Abu  Bakr  ash-Shashi 
who  died  only  two  years  after  al-Ghazzali  himself: 

In  our  time  there  was  a  man  who  disliked  al-Ghazzali  and 
abused  him  and  slandered  him.  And  he  saw  the  Prophet 
(God  bless  him  and  give  him  peace!)  in  a  dream;  Abu  Bakr 
and  ^Umar  (may  God  be  well  pleased  with  both  of  them!) 
were  at  his  side,  and  al-Ghazzali  was  sitting  before  him, 
saying,  "O  Apostle  of  God,  this  man  speaks  against  me!" 
Thereupon  the  Prophet  said,  "Bring  the  whips!"  So  the 
man  was  beaten  on  account  of  al-Ghazzali.  Then  the  man 
arose  from  sleep,  and  the  marks  of  the  whips  remained  on  his 
back;  and  he  was  wont  to  weep  and  tell  the  story. 

It  would  be  easy  to  go  on  almost  interminably  with 
such  tales  as  these,  but  I  imagine  that  my  point  is 

I  Qur.  xxviii,  30. 

a  "Life,"  loc.  cit.,  p.  109. 


94    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

now  sufficiently  made.  The  means  of  access  to  the 
unseen  world  open  to  all,  the  universal  crack  in  the 
shell  of  which  I  spoke,  is  the  faculty  of  dreaming. 
All  members  of  the  Muslim  world,  orthodox,  hereti- 
cal, unbelieving,  theologians,  philosophers,  and  the 
man  in  the  street,  believed  and  believe  in  dreams. 
There  is  a  book,  not  nearly  so  well  known  as  it 
should  be  and  might  be  for  its  varied  interest  and  its 
vivid  picture  of  its  author,  his  adventures  and  the 
world  in  which  he  lived.  It  is  the  account  of  his 
life  and  travels,  dictated  in  1355  (a.  d.)  at  Fez  by 
Ibn  Batata,  after  his  return  from  twenty-eight  years 
and  more  than  75,000  miles  of  wandering.  He 
is  a  much  more  garrulous,  free-spoken  and  wider 
traveled  Marco  Polo,  and  is  almost  as  trustworthy 
an  observer  and  describer.  In  certain  ways  he  has 
marked  kinship  to  Pepys.  I  shall  have  to  use  his 
book  hereafter,  but,  in  the  meantime,  you  will  find 
in  its  pages — there  is  a  good  edition  of  the  Arabic 
text,  with  a  fairly  adequate  French  translation  by 
Defremery  and  Sanguinetti — numerous  cases  of 
dreams  very  much  to  our  present  point.  For  him, 
the  crack  in  the  shell  was  even  wider  than  usual. 


LECTURE  IV 

OTHER  MEANS  OF  INTERCOURSE:   WIZARDS, 
MAGIC,    TALISMANS;    UTILITARIANISM 

IN  ISLAM 

We  can  now  return  to  Ibn  Khaldun's  philoso- 

phizings.     In  the  following  terms'  he  makes  a  fresh 

attempt  to  grapple  with  our  connections  with  the 

Unseen. 

We  find  among  men  certain  individuals  who  give  informa- 
tion about  events  before  these  take  place,  by  a  nature  in  them 
by  which  their  kind  is  distinguished  from  other  men.  In 
that,  they  do  not  have  recourse  to  an  art;  nor  do  they  draw 
inferences  from  an  influence  exercised  by  the  stars  and  the 
like;  we  simply  find  that  they  have  channels  of  apprehension 
dealing  therewith  which  are  necessarily  involved  in  the  con- 
stitution with  which  they  have  been  endowed.  Such  are 
wizards  and  gazers  into  transparent  bodies,  like  mirrors  and 
cups  of  water,  and  gazers  on  the  hearts  and  livers  and  bones 
of  animals,  and  those  who  augur  by  birds  and  wild  beasts, 
or  who  cast  pebbles  and  grains  of  wheat  and  date  stones. 
All  these  exist  in  the  world  of  man;  denial  of  them  is  not 
possible  for  anyone.  Similarly,  the  mad  have  cast  upon  their 
tongues  words  from  the  Unseen,  and  they  tell  them.  Sim- 
ilarly, a  sleeper,  when  he  has  just  fallen  asleep,  and  a  dead  man, 
when  he  has  just  died,  speak  concerning  the  Unseen.  So,  too, 
it  is  with  ascetics,  i.  e.,  the  Sufis.  They  have  well-known 
channels  of  information  as  to  the  Unseen,  by  way  of  grace 
from   God    (kardma).    We  will  now  speak  about  all  these 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  105;  Bulaq,  p.  89;  de  Slane's  translation, 
Vol.  I,  p.  218. 

95 


96    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

modes  of  apprehension,  beginning  with  soothsaying,  and  taking 
up  the  rest,  one  by  one. 

But  first,  an  introduction  on  the  way  in  which  the  human 
soul  is  equipped  to  apprehend  the  Unseen  after  all  these 
fashions.  The  soul  is  the  essence  of  a  spirituality  potentially 
existent  and  so  distinguished  from  the  other  spiritualities  as 
we  have  mentioned  above;  it  passes  into  actuality  only  in 
the  body  and  its  states.  That  everyone  perceives.  And 
everything  that  is  potential  has  a  substance  and  a  form.  The 
form  of  the  soul,  by  which  its  existence  is  complete,  is  appre- 
hension itself  and  rational  thought.  It  exists,  in  the  first 
instance,  in  potentiality,  equipped  to  apprehend  and  receive 
forms  universal  and  particular.  Then,  its  growth  and 
existence  become  complete  in  actuality,  through  being  joined 
with  the  body  and  through  the  arrival  of  its  sensuously  per- 
ceived apprehensions  to  which  the  body  accustoms  it,  and 
through  the  universal  ideas  which  are  drawn  from  these 
apprehensions.  So  it  rationally  considers  the  forms,  again 
and  again,  until  it  acquires  in  actuality  a  form  consisting  of 
apprehension  and  rational  thought,  and  so  its  essence  is 
completed.  The  soul,  then,  is  like  matter,  and  forms  alternate 
upon  it,  through  apprehension,  one  after  the  other. 

On  that  account,  we  find  that  a  child,  in  the  beginning  of 
its  growth,  is  not  able  to  apprehend  that  which  belongs  to  the 
soul  essentially,  neither  in  sleep,  nor  by  revelation,  nor  other- 
wise. That  is  because  its  form,  which  is  its  very  essence, 
namely  apprehension  and  rational  thought,  is  not  complete; 
nay,  not  even  the  extraction  of  universals  can  be  completely 
carried  out. 

Then,  whenever  its  essence  is  actually  complete,  it  comes 
to  have,  so  long  as  it  is  together  with  the  body,  two  kinds  of 
apprehension.  One  kind,  through  the  instruments  of  the 
body,  which  the  bodily  channels  of  apprehension  bring  to  it, 
and  one  kind  through  its  essence,  without  any  intermediary. 


WIZARDS  IN  ISLAM  97 

It  is  screened  off  from  the  second  kind  by  being  immersed  in 
the  body  and  in  the  senses,  and  by  their  preoccupations.  The 
senses  are  always  drawing  it  to  that  which  is  without  through 
the  physical  apprehension  which  is  their  primary  nature. 
But  often  it  plunges  from  the  external  into  the  internal;  and 
the  veil  of  the  body  is  raised  for  a  moment,  either  through  a 
property  which  belongs  to  man  in  general,  like  sleep,  or 
through  a  property  which  exists  in  some  men,  like  soothsaying 
and  divining  with  pebbles,  or  through  a  discipline,  as  that 
which  gives  Sufis  their  revelations.  So  the  soul  turns,  then, 
to  the  essences  which  are  above  it,  of  the  heavenly  host,  on 
account  of  the  connection  which  exists  between  its  region 
and  their  region,  as  we  have  shown  above.  These  essences 
are  spiritual,  and  are  absolute  apprehension  and  actual  intelli- 
gence; in  them  are  the  forms  and  essentials  of  existence,  as 
has  preceded.  Then,  something  of  these  forms  shines  out  in 
them,  and  the  soul  acquires  knowledge  from  them.  Often, 
those  apprehended  forms  are  carried  back  to  the  imagination, 
which  casts  them  in  accustomed  molds.  Then,  these  appre- 
hensions are  brought  to  the  senses,  either  simple  or  in  the 
molds  of  the  imagination,  and  so  are  reported.  This  is  an 
explanation  of  the  equipment  of  the  soul  for  the  apprehension 
of  the  Unseen. 

Let  us  return  to  the  exposition  which  we  promised  of  the 
kinds  of  this  apprehension.  The  gazers  in  transparent 
bodies,^  such  as  mirrors  and  cups  of  water  and  hearts  and 
livers  and  bones  of  animals,  and  those  who  divine  with 
pebbles  and  grains,  all  are  of  the  kind  of  the  kdhins.  Only, 
they  are  weaker  as  to  their  fundamental  nature,  because  the 
kdhin,  for  the  lifting  of  the  veil  of  sense,  does  not  need  much 
assistance,  but  these  seek  assistance  by  limiting  all  the  chan- 
nels of  sense-apprehension  down  to  one  only.     The  noblest 

1  Scryers  in  English;  cf.  N.  W.  Thomas,  Crystal-gazing; 
also  Andrew  Lang,  Making  of  Religion. 


98    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

of  these  channels  is  vision,  so  vision  is  concentrated  upon  an 
object  with  a  uniform  surface  {marH  bastt),  until  it  gains  an 
apprehension,  by  vision,  of  that  of  which  it  must  give  informa- 
tion. And  often  it  is  thought  that  those  who  observe  see 
what  they  see  in  the  surface  of  the  mirror,  but  that  is  not  so. 
They  simply  continue  gazing  at  the  surface  of  the  mirror  until 
it  vanishes  from  their  sight,  and  then  there  appears,  between 
them  and  the  surface  of  the  mirror,  a  curtain,  as  though  it  were 
a  cloud,  on  which  forms  show  themselves.  These  are  the 
things  which  they  apprehend,  and  thus  they  can  indicate  what 
is  desired  to  be  known,  either  negatively  or  affirmatively. 
So  they  report  about  it,  just  as  they  have  apprehended  it; 
but  as  for  the  mirror  and  the  forms  which  were  (supposedly) 
apprehended  in  it,  they  did  not  really  apprehend  these  in  that 
way.  There  only  grew  for  them,  through  it,  this  other  kind 
of  apprehension,  which  belongs  to  the  soul  and  is  not  really 
apprehension  by  vision.  The  spiritual  apprehender  forms 
his  apprehension  only  as  though  it  were  according  to  sense. 
The  case  is  the  same  with  gazers  on  the  hearts  and  livers  of 
animals  and  water  in  cups  and  so  on.  Some  of  these,  we  have 
observed,  distract  the  senses  by  means  of  vapors  only,  or  by 
spells  by  way  of  preparation.  Then  they  tell  what  they  have 
apprehended.  They  maintain  that  they  see  forms  shaped  in 
the  air,  telling  them  by  symbols  and  indications  the  things 
a  knowledge  of  which  is  desired.  The  absence  of  these  last 
from  the  influence  of  sense  is  less  than  in  the  case  of  the 
first.    The  world  is  full  of  marvels! 

There  follows  a  section  on  those  who  draw  omens 
from  the  flight  of  birds,  etc.;  and  then  another,  of 
more  interest,  on  divination  through  the  insane: 

The  logical  souls  of  these  have  a  weak  connection  with 
the  body,  because  their  constitution  is,  for  the  most  part,  dis- 
ordered, and  the  animal  spirit  is  weaker  in  them.     So  the 


WIZARDS  IN  ISLAM  99 

soul  of  one  of  these,  on  account  of  the  pain  of  what  is  lacking 
in  him  and  of  his  disease  which  distracts  his  senses,  is  not 
plunged  and  submerged  in  the  senses.  And  often  another 
Satanic  spirituality  importunes  the  soul  to  join  him,  clinging 
to  it;  and  that  soul  is  too  weak  to  drive  it  off,  so  it  is  convulsed 
thereby.  Then,  when  this  convulsion  has  taken  place,  either 
through  an  essential  disorder  in  the  constitution,  or  by  impor- 
tunity from  Satanic  spirits  which  join  it,  the  madman  loses 
contact  with  his  senses  completely,  and  apprehends  a  flash  of 
the  world  of  his  soul;  and  sense  forms  are  impressed  upon  it. 
The  imagination  then  transforms  these;  and  often  he  speaks 
from  his  tongue  only,  in  that  state,  without  willing  to  speak.  ^ 
Apprehension,  on  the  part  of  all  these,  has  mixed  in  it  truth  and 
falsehood,  because  their  contact  with  the  spiritual  world 
comes  to  them,  even  although  they  have  lost  contact  with 
their  senses,  only  after  aid  has  been  sought  in  externalities, 
as  we  have  explained.  Thence  comes  the  false  element  in 
these  appearances. 

There  follows  his  opinion  of  those  whom  he  calls 
wizards  ("^arrdf).  These  profess  to  have  connection 
with  the  Unseen,  but  are  really  guided  by  their  in- 
telligence and  by  free  conjecture.  They  use,  as  a 
basis,  the  opinion  which  they  have  gained  from  the 
first  stages  of  this  connection  with  the  spiritual  world 
and  their  apprehension  thereof,  and  claim  by  that 
a  knowledge  of  the  Unseen.  He  further  refers  by 
name  to  some  of  the  most  celebrated  kdhins  of  the 
heathen  Arabs  and  to  their  wizards;  then  he  goes  on 
to  speak  of  the  approach  to  the  Unseen  at  the  begin- 
ning of  sleep,  and  at  the  first  moments  of  death; 

I  These  phenomena  would  now  be  called  technically  "posses- 
sion" and  "automatic  speech." 


loo    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

how  the  tongue  then  speaks  without  intention — again 
automatic  speech — when  the  veil  of  sense  has  been 
raised.  So,  some  tyrannous  rulers  used  to  take 
men  and  kill  them,  that  they  might  know  from 
their  speech,  at  the  point  of  death,  what  the  future 
would  bring.  He  gives,  further,  a  gruesome  receipt 
how  to  dissolve  away  a  living  man  in  a  barrel  of 
oil,  until  nothing  was  left  of  him  but  the  veins  and 
sutures  of  his  head.  The  head  would  then  answer 
questions  about  the  future.  This  he  blames  as 
belonging  to  the  actions  of  the  magicians,  but  accepts 
it  as  proving  the  wonders  of  the  human  structure. 
This  story  of  the  head  that  answers  questions,  I  may 
say,  is  very  widely  spread  in  Islam,  but  mostly  as 
a  tale  of  ancient  magic.  It  was  localized,  apparently, 
among  the  heathen  of  Harran  in  North  Syria,  and 
connected  with  their  star  worship.  In  Islam  itself 
it  was  probably  never  practiced. 

Others  sought  to  attain  the  same  results  by 
bringing  about  an  artificial  death— the  phrase  is 
Ibn  Khaldun's.  By  ascetic  exercises  and  discipline, 
they  sought  to  destroy  all  the  physical  powers ;  then 
to  obliterate  their  effects  upon  the  soul;  then  to 
foster  the  soul  by  religious  exercises  and  increase  its 
power  in  itself.  When  this  death  descended  upon 
the  body,  then  sense  and  its  veil  were  removed,  and 
the  soul  could  attain  to  the  Unseen.  Others  strove 
to  attain  the  same  end  by  magical  disciplines;  these 
were  especially  in  the  remoter  regions  of  the  earth 


SAINTS  IN  ISLAM  loi 

and  in  India.  Ibn  Khaldun  had  heard  of  the  yogis 
and  of  the  elaborate  Indian  literature  on  this  sub- 
ject. Ibn  <^ArabI,  a  great  mystical  writer  who  died 
in  1240,  revised  with  the  help  of  a  yogi  a  translation 
of  one  of  these  Indian  texts. ^ 

The  traveler,  Ibn  Batuta,  of  whom  I  have  already 
spoken,  also  had  strange  experiences  in  India  and 
China  with  yogis.  He  observed  them  closely,  and 
seems  to  have  had  no  doubt  as  to  the  reality  of  their 
feats,  but  he  shows  a  disposition  to  regard  them  as 
secret  Muslims.  Only  a  Muslim  saint  could  work 
such  wonders.  Some  of  their  miracles  affected  him 
with  a  palpitation  of  the  heart,  so  that  he  fainted; 
but  the  performance  was  suspended  until  he  recov- 
ered and  could  see  it  through.  He  names  them  as 
yogis  (juklya)  and  is  evidently  a  trustworthy  wit- 
ness. 

Ibn  Khaldun  comes  next  to  the  Sufis  or  Muslim 
mystics.  He  treats  them  twice  in  his  book.  Once 
here,  when  he  considers  especially  their  intercourse 
with  the  Unseen,  and  later,  in  a  longer  and  more 
general  article  on  their  origin,  history  and  tenets. 
In  this  place,  he  begins  by  saying,  that  their  system 
of  discipline  is  rehgious  and  free  from  the  blame- 
worthy ends  mentioned  above.  Their  sole  object 
is  to  approach  closely  to  God,  so  that  they  may  attain 
those  pleasures  which  belong  to  the  people  who 
truly  know  God  and  enter  into  union  with  him. 

I  Brockelmann,  Arabische  Litteratur,  Vol.  I,  p.  446. 


I02    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

The  essence  of  their  discipline  is  starving  the  body 
and  feeding  the  soul  with  meditation  upon  God; 
for  when  the  soul  grows  up  thus,  it  grows  ever 
nearer  to  the  knowledge  of  God;  and  when  it  is 
deprived  of  this  meditation,  it  becomes  satanic. 
Whatever  comes  to  the  Sufis  by  way  of  knowledge 
and  of  control  of  the  Unseen,  is  only  accidental; 
it  is  not  an  object  in  the  first  instance.  If  it  were  an 
object,  then  their  aim  would  be  something  besides 
God,  and  that  would  be  equivalent  to  polytheism. 
One  of  them  has  said,  ''He  who  prefers  (mystical) 
knowledge  for  the  sake  of  (mystical)  knowledge 
professes  the  second:"  i.  e.,  mystical  knowledge  and 
not  God  himself. 

Their  aim,  then,  is  God  and  nothing  else;  when 
anything  else  comes  in,  it  is  by  accident  only;  and 
many  of  them  avoid  that  when  it  presents  itself  and 
do  not  heed  it.  Still,  that  such  things  come  to  them 
is  well  known  and  is  disapproved  by  a  few  theolo- 
gians only,  lest  the  miracles  of  the  saints  might 
be  confused  with  the  evidentiary  miracles  of  the 
prophets. 

The  fact,  however,  that  the  saints  have  such 
miracles  Ibn  Khaldun  proves  by  narratives  from  the 
Companions  of  the  Prophet.  Thus  the  story  runs, 
that  ^Umar,  the  second  Khalifa,  was  preaching  one 
day,  at  al-Madlna,  when  he  suddenly  stopped  in 
his  sermon,  and  cried  out,  ''O  Sariya,  the  hill!  the 
hill !"     Sariya  was  a  Muslim  general,  at  that  time,  in 


SAINTS  IN  ISLAM  103 

al-'^Iraq.  He  was  hard  pressed  in  battle  at  that  mo- 
ment by  unbelievers,  but  the  voice  of  ^Umar  came  to 
him  from  al-Madlna  and  warned  him  of  the  hill  that 
he  must  seize.  "  Many  other  such  things  happened," 
says  Ibn  Khaldun,  ''in  the  time  of  the  Companions, 
and,  after  them,  among  the  pious.  In  the  lifetime 
and  especially  in  the  presence  of  the  Prophet,  such 
things  were  few,  and  even  now,  when  the  student 
of  Sufism  comes  to  al-Madlna,  his  ecstatic  states 
cease,  so  long  as  he  remains  there."  Apparently, 
saints  are  a  substitute  for  a  prophet,  and  therefore 
in  the  lifetime  and  environment  of  a  prophet,  the 
specific  character  of  sainthood  is  not  exhibited. 
Further,  according  to  many  theologians,  Muhammad 
is  not  absolutely  dead,  but  lives,  in  a  sense,  in  his 
tomb  at  al-Madina.  Immediately  around  it,  there- 
fore, the  miracles  and  ecstatic  states  of  saints  do 
not  appear. 

What  Ibn  Khaldun  has  to  say  in  general  upon 
the  Sufis  we  may  leave  until  later;  only  one  class  of 
them  calls  for  notice  now.  These  are  idiots,  who 
are  mentally  deranged  like  the  insane,  but  who  show 
along  with  that  clear  proofs  of  sainthood.  Ibn 
Khaldun  opines  that  whoever  with  sound  under- 
standing knows  their  manner  of  life  will  recognize 
this,  although  they  do  not  fulfil  the  external  duties 
of  the  law.  There  occur  in  them  wonderful  things 
by  way  of  stories  of  the  Unseen,  for  they  are  not 
limited  by  anything,  and  they  give  their  speech  full 


104    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

course  therein.  The  canon  lawyers  sometimes  deny 
that  they  are  saints  at  all  on  account  of  that  dropping 
of  the  external  ritual  of  the  law  which  is  seen  in 
them,  and  because  it  is  held  that  sainthood  comes 
only  through  devotional  exercises.  But  that  is  an 
error,  for  the  grace  of  God  comes  to  whomsoever 
God  wills,  and  the  attainment  of  sainthood  does 
not  stand  in  devotional  exercises  only.  Since  the 
human  soul  is  imperishable,  God  endows  it  with 
what  of  his  gifts  he  wills.  In  idiots  the  logical  soul 
is  not  lacking;  nor  is  it  corrupt  as  in  the  case  of  the 
insane.  It  is  only  their  reason  which  fails ;  and  it  is 
to  it  that  is  attached  the  duty  of  the  external  observ- 
ance of  the  law.  Ibn  Khaldun  adds  some  scholastic 
reasoning  upon  this  point  which  we  need  not  notice; 
his  meaning  is  sufficiently  clear.  He  warns,  how- 
ever, that  these  idiot-saints  are  to  be  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  the  insane,  whose  logical  souls  have 
become  corrupt,  and  who  are,  therefore,  like  the 
lower  animals. 

To  distinguish  them,  however,  there  are  certain 
signs.  First,  that  you  will  find  in  these  idiots  a 
distinct  turn  for  religious  meditation  and  devotion, 
although  not  according  to  legal  conditions,  because 
they  are  not  under  the  law;  the  case  is  different 
with  the  insane.  Secondly,  that  they  were  created 
in  idiocy,  while  insanity  befalls  the  insane  after  a 
portion  of  their  life,  on  account  of  bodily,  physical 
accidents.    When  this  has  befallen  them,  their  logical 


GEOMANCY  IN  ISLAM  105 

soul  is  corrupted,  and  they  act  without  reason  or 
sequence.  And,  thirdly,  their  much  busying  them- 
selves with  men,  for  good  and  for  evil;  for  they  do 
not  wait  for  permission,  there  being  no  obligation 
to  the  law  in  their  case;  but  the  insane  have  no  such 
concern  regarding  others. 

Ibn  Khaldun,  then,  takes  up  some  means  of 
reaching  the  Unseen,  without  this  throwing  off  of 
the  veil  of  the  senses.  The  claim  of  astrologers  he 
shortly  rejects,  with  a  reference  to  his  more  elaborate 
examination  elsewhere.  The  art  of  geomancy,  that 
is,  divining  the  future  by  arrangements  of  dots  in 
sand  or  on  paper,  he  describes  more  fully.  It 
claimed,  like  all  the  arts,  prophetic  origin,  and  in 
proof  of  its  lawfulness  a  tradition  from  Muhammad 
was  alleged  which  seems  to  be  a  far-away  echo  of 
the  pericope  of  the  adulteress  in  John's  Gospel.  We 
need  not  take  it  up  here,  and  I  will  only  refer  you 
to  a  note  in  Mr.  John  Payne's  translation  of  Alaed- 
din  (pp.  199  ff.),  where  is  the  only  description  of  this 
art  which  I  know  in  English. '  After  it  all,  Ibn 
Khaldun  concludes  shortly  that  such  arts  cannot 
possibly  reach  the  Unseen,  and  that  these  dots,  for 
example,  can  only  assist  toward  it  when  they  blur  the 
sense  perception  of  the  worker  of  them.  The  only 
basis  for  reaching  the  Unseen  lies  in  the  nature  of 
the  human  soul  itself.  And  here  he  adds  a  remark 
which  shows  that  many  claimed  falsely  to  possess 

I  See,  too,  de  Slane's  translation,  Vol.  I,  pp.  232  flf. 


io6    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

this  power,  and  that  he  himself  had  a  keen  feeling 

of  the  need  of  some  rational  criterion: 

The  sign  [he  says]  of  the  constitution,  which  those  have 
who  can  apprehend  the  Unseen,  is  that  there  comes  upon 
them,  when  they  turn  to  those  things,  a  passing  out  from  their 
natural  state,  such  as  yawning  and  stretching,  and  the  begin- 
nings of  a  lack  of  sense-perception.  This  differs  in  strength 
and  weakness,  as  this  constitution  differs  in  them.  Any  one 
however,  in  whom  this  sign  is  not  found,  has  no  perception 
of  the  Unseen,  and  is  only  trying  to  make  money  out  of  lies. 

Finally,  Ibn  KhaldUn  mentions  a  class  of  efforts 
to  reach  the  Unseen,  based,  neither  on  the,  for  him 
undoubted,  properties  in  the  spiritual  soul,  nor  on  the 
hypothesis  of  the  influence  of  the  stars,  nor  on  the 
conjectures  and  fancies  of  wizards,  but  on  supposed 
powers  residing  in  combinations  of  numbers  and 
letters.  These  Ibn  Khaldun  rejects  absolutely, 
but  he  has  found  it  necessary  to  state  and  expose 
them  at  considerable  length.  I  need  not  follow 
him  here.  In  part,  they  exhibit  the  curious  lack  of 
simple  arithmetical  power  in  the  Muslim  peoples, 
which  has  made  them  fall  back  on  Copts  and  Ar- 
menians as  calculating  machines.  An  arithmetical 
problem  which  involves  nothing  more  than  a  simple 
proportion,  or,  at  the  most,  requires  for  its  statement 
a  simple  equation,  appears  to  suggest  to  them  the 
mysteries  of  the  universe.  This  undoubtedly  arises, 
apart  from  their  lack  of  arithmetical  ability,  from 
their  feeling,  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  that  a 
very  thin  shell  divides  them  from  the  Unseen.     Pro- 


DIVINATION  BY  NUMBERS  IN  ISLAM       107 

portions  of  numbers  lead  them  almost  immediately 
to  suppose  proportions  existing  mysteriously  in  the 
very  nature  of  things.  On  another  side  this  affected 
our  own  Middle  Ages  as  the  doctrine  of  signatures. 

It  was  undoubtedly  fostered,  further,  by  the  fact 
that  the  letters  of  the  Arabic  alphabet  had  numerical 
values,  and  that  those  values  did  not  fit,  in  any 
way,  the  order  of  the  letters  in  that  alphabet.  The 
values  were  derived  from  the  quite  different  order 
of  the  Hebrew  alphabet;  but  comparatively  few 
Muslims  knew  that,  and  in  consequence  there  is  the 
feeling  that  the  number  inheres,  in  some  mysterious 
way,  in  the  personality  of  the  letter.  It  is  as  though 
we  should  always  think  of  the  number  ten  when  we 
saw  the  letter  x,  and  also  have  a  vague  feeling  that 
whenever  x  occurred  in  a  word,  there  must,  in  the 
scheme  of  things,  be  some  working  of  the  value 
ten. 

Somewhat  similar  things  are  used  in  games  and 
guesses  by  us.  To  a  Muslim,  that  game,  for  example, 
of  telling  a  person  to  take  a  number  and  perform  on 
it  divers  operations  and  from  the  result  of  them 
telling  him  his  age,  would  seem  to  involve  direct 
contact  with  the  spiritual  world.  Ibn  Khaldun, 
naturally,  has  no  patience  with  all  this.  He  had 
Berber  blood  in  him  and  could  count  and  reckon; 
but  the  detail  which  he  feels  compelled  to  give  to 
it  and  the  elaborate  simplicity  of  his  explanation 
and  example  of  proportion  in  arithmetic  show  how 


io8    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

absolutely  unarithmetical  were  the  minds  for  which 
he  was  writing. 

It  might  now  be  in  place  to  take  up  his  doctrine 
of  the  saints  and  their  miracles.  But  as  has  been 
suggested  already,  it  seems  better  to  leave  his  fuller 
discussion  of  that  subject  until  we  come  to  deal  with 
the  actual  path  and  experience  of  the  religious  soul 
on  its  way  to  God. 

I  take  up  next,  therefore,  his  doctrine  of  magic 
and  talismans:^ 

The  sciences  of  magic  and  of  talismans  concern  the  nature 
of  the  equipments  by  which  human  souls  are  able  to  produce 
effects  in  the  world  of  the  elements,  either  with  or  without  a 
helper  of  the  heavenly  things.  If  without  a  helper,  it  is  magic; 
if  with  a  helper,  it  is  the  science  of  talismans.  Since  these 
sciences  are  forbidden  in  different  law-codes,  both  on  account 
of  their  hurtfulness,  and  because  there  is  involved  in  them  a 
looking  towards  someone  else  than  God,  whether  a  star  or  not, 
books  concerning  them  are  almost  entirely  lacking,  except 
as  to  what  is  found  in  the  books  of  the  ancient  peoples  before 
the  time  of  Moses,  such  as  the  Nabataeans  and  the  Chaldeans. 

None  of  the  prophets  who  preceded  Moses  laid  down  laws 
or  brought  commands.  Their  books  contained  only  exhorta- 
tions, the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God  and  admonitions  as  to 
heaven  and  hell.  So  these  sciences  existed  among  the  people 
of  Babel,  Syrians  and  Chaldeans,  and  among  the  people  of 
Egypt,  the  Copts  and  others.  These  peoples  had  on  them 
writings  and  traditions;  but  only  a  litde  has  been  translated 
for  us  from  their  books  on  this  subject,  like  the  Nahataean 
Agriculture,  one  of  the  books  of  the  people  of  Babel. 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  496;    Bulaq,  p.  414;    de  Slane's  transla- 
tion, Vol.  Ill,  p.  171. 


MAGIC  IN  ISLAM  109 

Then  men  took  this  science  over  from  them,  and  became 
well  versed  in  it;  and,  thereafter,  books  were  composed  like 
the  Scrolls  of  the  Seven  Stars,  and  the  Book  of  Timtim,  the 
Indian,  on  the  forms  [or  figures]  of  the  Scale  and  the  Stars,  etc. 
Then  Geber  appeared  in  the  East,  the  greatest  of  the  magicians 
in  this  community,  and  examined  the  books  of  the  experts  and 
extracted  the  art,  testing  thoroughly  and  extracting  its  cream. 
He  composed,  also,  other  works,  and  wrote  much  upon  this 
art  and  on  the  art  of  natural  magic,  because  that  art  is  one  of 
the  branches  of  magic.  For  the  changing  of  specific  bodies 
from  one  form  to  another  can  take  place  only  by  a  force  of  the 
soul,  not  by  mechanical  art,  and  that  is  part  of  the  nature  of 
magic,  as  we  shall  mention  in  its  place.  Then  came  Maslama 
ibn  Ahmad  of  Madrid,  the  leader  of  the  Spanish  people  in 
mathematics  and  magical  things.  He  expounded  all  these 
books  and  corrected  them,  and  gathered  their  divergent  views 
in  his  own  book.    No  one  has  written  on  this  science  since  him. 

I  have  translated  this  passage  at  length,  because 
of  its  historical  suggestiveness.  It  was  the  fate  of 
the  whole  science  of  history  among  Muslims,  and 
Ibn  Khaldun  himself  does  not  rise  above  it,  to  seek 
to  know  too  much ;  to  abhor  all  vacuum,  and  not  to 
be  too  critical  toward  books  which  professed,  on 
very  slender  evidence,  to  be  authorities  on  the  re- 
motest times.  All  divisions  of  Muslim  literature 
have  suffered  from  the  pseudograph;  and  here  Ibn 
Khaldun  makes  mention  of  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated and  fatal  of  these  books,  which,  after  mis- 
leading all  Muslim  writers,  misled  even  a  European 
scholar  in  the  nineteenth  century.  The  Nahataean 
Agriculture  was  written  at  the  beginning  of  the 


no    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

tenth  century  by  a  certain  Ibn  al-Wahshiya,  a  scion 
of  an  Aramaic  family.  His  book  is  no  translation, 
but  a  frank  forgery,  in  which  he  invents  a  complete 
ancient  literature  and  exalts  the  old  Babylonians 
over  the  conquering  Arabs.  It  is  upon  his  book  and 
upon  their  own  conception  of  the  history  of  reve- 
lation through  a  series  of  prophets,  that  Muslims 
base  their  ideas  of  the  ancient  civilizations. 

With  Geber  we  touch  honester  and  more  solid 
ground.  He  seems  to  have  lived  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighth  century,  and  to  have  written  much 
upon  chemistry.  He  is  the  greatest  name,  of  course, 
in  the  history  of  alchemy,  but  whether  all  the  books 
ascribed  to  him,  and,  if  so,  which,  are  really  his, 
we  are  absolutely  in  the  dark.  The  difficulty  is  that 
they,  in  their  European  translations  at  least,  show  a 
scientific  knowledge,  which  chemists  find  almost 
unbelievable  of  his  time.  Maslama  of  Madrid,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  a  perfectly  historical  character, 
who  died  1007  A.  d.  Ibn  Khaldun  often  refers  to 
him.^ 

But  though  Ibn  Khaldun's  ancient  history  was  led 
astray  by  these  forgeries,  and  his  criticism  vitiated 
by  these  assumptions,  yet,  when  he  comes  to  phi- 
losophize the  whole  question,  he  shows  the  same 
grasp  of  the  possibilities  of  the  mind.     We  must 

I  See,  on  him,  de  Slane's  long  note.  Vol.  Ill,  p.  172,  and  on  the 
whole  subject  the'article  on^  Muhammadan  alchemy  in  Hastings' 
Encyclopaedia jof  Religionsjand  Ethics,  Vol.  I,|pp.|289  fif. 


MAGIC  IN  ISLAM  iii 

remember  here,  as  everywhere,  that  he  takes  a  great 
deal  for  granted  which,  not  many  years  ago,  we 
would  have  declined  to  think  about  at  all,  and  only 
within  the  last  few  years  have  accepted  as  worthy  of 
any  consideration.  The  limits  of  what  science  is 
willing  to  discuss,  which  are  so  apt  to  hamper  us, 
did  not  exist  for  him.  The  occult  phenomena,  to 
which  we  are  now  turning  again,  because  they  have 
simply  been  forced  upon  our  notice,  had  met  him 
in  still  richer  abundance.  Only  he  felt  no  need  of 
turning  away  from  them.  He  accepted  them  and 
set  to  work  to  rationalize  them. 
This  is  how  he  did  it : 

Although  human  souls  are  one  as  a  species,  yet  they  divide 
up  into  a  great  many  kinds,  each  with  different  properties. 
These  properties  are  inborn  constitutions;  so,  the  souls  of  the 
prophets  have  a  property  which  prepares  them  for  the  divine 
and  for  intercourse  with  angels,  and  for  the  influence  on  the 
things  of  this  world  which  necessarily  follows.  In  magicians, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  peculiar  psychic  power  by  which 
they  influence  these  things  and  draw  down  and  apply  the 
spiritual  force  of  the  stars,  and  thus  exercise  an  influence 
which  is  either  psychic  or  satanic.  The  influence,  then,  of  the 
prophets  is  by  the  help  of  God  and  by  a  divine  peculiarity, 
while  the  souls  of  the  diviners  have  a  peculiar  ability  to  learn 
about  hidden  things  through  satanic  forces.  Similarly,  each 
kind  of  human  beings  is  distinguished  by  a  peculiarity  which 
is  not  found  in  any  other. 

The  souls  of  magicians,  further,  are  of  three  kinds.  The 
first  of  these  exerts  its  influence  through  an  effort  of  the  will 
only,  without  using  an  instrument  or  a  helper.  This  is  what 
the  philosophers  call  magic.    The  second  uses  as  a  helper 


112    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

the  intervention  of  the  spheres,  or  of  the  elements,  or  of  the 
pecuHarities  of  numbers.  This  they  call  talismanic  art,  and 
this  kind  is  weaker  than  the  first.  The  third  kind  has  an 
influence  on  the  imaginative  powers.  The  user  of  this  influ- 
ence can  control  the  imagination  to  a  certain  extent,  and 
impress  upon  it  different  kinds  of  appearances  and  resem- 
blances and  forms,  according  to  his  purpose;  he  affects  the 
senses  of  those  who  see  those  things  by  the  force  of  his  soul 
influencing  them.  Then  it  is  to  him  who  sees  as  though  he 
saw  those  things  externally;  and  yet  there  is  nothing  of  the 
kind  there.  So  it  is  related  that  some  have  been  caused  to 
see  gardens  and  rivers  and  castles  that  had  no  external  reality. 
This  the  philosophers  call  conjuring.  Those,  then,  are  the 
three  divisions. 

Ibn  Khaldun  then  goes  on  to  discuss  the  theologi- 
cal and  ethical  implications  in  this.  He  points  out 
that  this  peculiar  power  exists  in  the  magician  po- 
tentially, just  as  do  all  human  powers.  It  can  be 
brought  to  actuality  only  by  practice.  Practice,  in 
the  case  of  magic,  consists  in  turning  the  attention 
toward  the  celestial  spheres  and  the  stars  and  the 
upper  worlds  and  the  evil  spirits,  and  magnifying, 
worshiping  and  submitting  one's  self  to  them.  But 
this  is  turning  toward  other  than  God,  which  is 
unbelief.  Magic,  then,  must  be  largely  reckoned  as 
a  form  of  unbelief.  On  the  ethical  side,  there  can 
be  no  question  of  its  corrupting  influence. 

Again,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  between  these 
three  kinds  of  magic,  when  we  consider  whether 
there  is  in  magic  any  external  reality.  In  the  third 
kind,  it  is  plain  that  there  is  none.     But  as  to  the 


MAGIC  IN  ISLAM  113 

first  two  kinds,  their  reality  is  certain.  On  that 
point,  Ibn  Khaldtin  has  no  doubt;  all  reasonable 
men  admit  it,  and  the  Qur^dn  speaks  of  it  with  per- 
fect clearness.  There  we  have  the  case  of  the  two 
angels  at  Babel,  Harut  and  Marut,  who  taught  man- 
kind magic.  The  Prophet,  too,  had  spells  cast  upon 
him.  A  chapter  of  the  Qur^dn  speaks  of  "the  evil 
of  those  who  blow  upon  knots,"  and  ^A%ha  tells 
how  those  magic  knots  unloosed  themselves,  when 
this  chapter  was  recited  over  them.  The  people  of 
Babel,  Chaldeans,  Nabataeans,  Syrians — this  is  Ibn 
Khaldtin's  ethnography — stood  in  repute  as  ma- 
gicians, and  the  Qur^dn  tells  us  how  the  magicians 
of  Egypt  competed  with  Moses.  In  the  temples  of 
upper  Egypt  traces  are  still  left  of  them.  This 
reference  by  Ibn  ELhaldun  is  rather  obscurely  ex- 
pressed, but  it  seems  to  point  to  the  paintings  and 
sculptures  in  Egyptian  tombs,  and  to  the  mummies 
and  figures  found  there. 

Egypt,  for  all  Muslims,  has  been  a  land  of  mystery, 
of  ancient  stories,  hidden  treasure,  and  enchanters. 
The  Egyptians  themselves,  of  Ibn  Khaldun's  own 
day,  were  believed  to  be  peculiarly  expert  magicians. 
He  gives  a  very  obscure  account  of  one  whom  he  had 
seen  at  work.  I  must  admit  that  I  cannot  translate 
this  passage  with  any  certainty,  and  de  Slane,  in 
his  French  rendering,^  makes  the  same  confession. 
But  the  general  drift  seems  to  be  as  follows:    The 

I  Vol.  Ill,  p.  177. 


114    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

magician  built  up  out  of  different  materials  suited 
to  his  purpose,  a  figure  of  the  individual  whom  he 
wished  to  enchant;  these  bore  an  actual  relationship, 
either  real  or  symbolic,  to  the  person  and  character  of 
his  victim.  Then  he  uttered  sounds  over  that  figure, 
and  after  gathering  some  saliva  in  his  mouth,  blew 
it  repeatedly  at  the  figure,  apparently  mixing  in  with 
this,  at  the  same  time,  words  of  enchantment.  He 
held  over  the  figure,  too,  a  cord  which  he  had  pre- 
pared and  made  a  knot  upon  it  by  way  of  drawing 
to  his  assistance  one  of  the  Jinn  and  strengthening 
the  spell.  The  idea  was  that  an  evil  spirit  went  out 
from  him  when  he  blew,  attached  to  his  saliva,  and 
fell  upon  his  victim. 

This  is  not  very  lucid,  I  confess,  yet  one  can  easily 
recognize  in  it  a  number  of  the  permanent  elements 
in  magical  operations  such  as  appear  in  all  countries 
and  times. 

But  Ibn  Khaldun  had  other  experiences  which  are 
more  intelligible.  He  had  met  professors  of  magic 
who  could  point  to  a  garment  or  to  a  skin,  pronounce 
words  secretly  at  it,  and  it  was  cut  or  torn.  They 
could  point,  also,  with  a  slicing  gesture  at  sheep 
pasturing,  and  their  entrails  would  fall  out  of  them 
to  the  ground.  He  had  heard,  too,  that  in  India  there 
were  some  who  would  point  at  a  man,  and  he  would 
fall  dead.  It  would  then  be  found  that  his  heart 
had  vanished.  They  would  point,  too,  at  pome- 
granites,  and  all  the  seeds  would  be  found  to  have 


MAGIC  IN  ISLAM  115 

vanished.  Ibn  Khaldun  does  not  tell  us  here  what 
Ibn  Batuta  of  his  own  personal  knowledge  does, 
that  the  Indian  magician  was  supposed  to  have 
devoured  what  was  thus  spirited  away. 

To  pass  to  talismans,  Ibn  Khaldun  had  observed 
wonders  worked  by  the  use  of  what  we  call  "amica- 
ble numbers."  For  example,  if  you  take  the  num- 
bers, 284  and  220,  each  of  them  is  equal  to  the  sum 
of  the  aliquot  parts  of  the  other.  This  peculiarity 
seems  to  have  struck  the  oriental  imagination,  and 
given  rise  to  a  belief  that  this  relationship  could 
be  used  to  promote  love  and  friendship.  Upon  two 
symbolic  images,  constructed  according  to  astro- 
logical rules,  these  numbers  were  placed,  one  on  the 
one  and  the  other  on  the  other.  Their  possessors, 
then,  would  become  friends.  Ibn  Khaldun  seems 
actually  to  say  that  experience  had  borne  this  out. 
He  tells  of  other  kinds  of  talismans,  consisting  partly 
of  figures,  as  of  a  lion  or  a  snake  or  a  scorpion 
imprinted  under  certain  conditions  upon  certain  kinds 
of  steel,  partly  of  what  we  call  "magic  squares." 

He  then  comes  back  to  the  very  remarkable 
"slitting"  magic,  which  is  of  the  greater  interest  to 
us  that  he  had  had  personal  experience  of  it.  It 
flourished  peculiarly  in  western  North  Africa;  and 
the  people  who  professed  it  terrorized  their  neigh- 
bors by  the  threat  of  using  it  against  their  cattle 
and  sheep.  Naturally,  both  parties  concealed  the 
matter  out  of  fear  of  the  authorities,  but  Ibn  Klhal- 


Ii6    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

dun  had  met  a  company  of  these  "slitters,"  had 
witnessed  their  operations,  and  they  had  told  him 
that  they  had  a  peculiar  art  and  practice,  through 
heathen  prayers  and  by  drawing  in  the  assistance 
of  the  Jinn  and  the  stars.  This  was  laid  down  for 
them  in  a  book  which  they  had  and  which  they 
studied.  They  could  exercise  this  art  upon  anything 
except  a  free  man,  that  is  upon  goods  and  cattle 
and  slaves.  As  they  put  it,  "We  can  only  work 
upon  that  in  which  money  walks." 

This,  [says  Ibn  Khaldun]  is  what  they  assert:  I  asked  one 
of  them  and  he  told  me  about  it.  As  for  what  they  do,  that  is 
plain  and  evident.  I  have  been  present  at  much  of  it,  and 
have  seen  it  without  any  doubt. 

The  philosophers  distinguished  between  magic  and  talis- 
mans, but  they  lay  it  down  that  both  together  are  due  to  an 
influence  belonging  to  the  human  soul.  They  give  as  a  proof 
of  this  influence  how  the  soul  aff"ects  the  body  apart  from  the 
ordinary  operations  of  nature  or  physical  causes.  Nay,  there 
are  effects  which  arise  from  spiritual  conditions,  such  as  heat 
caused  by  joy,  or  from  ideas,  such  as  those  which  result  from 
fear.  One  who  is  walking  upon  the  edge  of  a  wall,  or  upon  a 
tight-rope,  when  fear  of  falling  comes  strongly  upon  him,  will 
most  certainly  fall.  Only  by  long  practice  can  the  fear  of 
falling  be  removed,  and  then  such  walk  safely.  If,  then,  the 
soul  has  this  influence  upon  its  own  body,  without  physical 
natural  causes,  it  is  possible  that  it  can  have  a  similar  influence 
upon  another  body,  since  its  relationship  to  bodies  in  this  kind 
of  influence  is  one;  for  it  is  not  enfolded  in  the  body  or  shut 
up  in  it.  So  it  follows  that  it  can  exert  an  influence  upon  all 
material  objects. 

This,  you  will  notice,  is  precisely  the  theory  which 


MAGIC  IN  ISLAM  117 

lies  behind  the  "mental  science"  and  "Christian 
science"  of  our  own  day.  It  is  also  practically 
involved  in  the  infinitely  more  scientific  "meta- 
psychical,"  to  use  Dr.  Maxwell's  word,  investiga- 
tions which  are  now  going  on.  There  lies  in  it  an 
indubitable  element  of  truth.  But  the  philosophers 
further  distinguish  between  magic  and  talismans: 

In  magic  the  magician  has  no  need  of  a  helper,  but  the 
user  of  a  talisman  seeks  help  from  the  spiritualities  of  the 
stars,  and  the  secrets  of  numbers,  and  the  peculiarities  of 
things,  and  the  situations  of  the  spheres,  these  working  upon 
the  world  of  the  elements,  as  astrologers  say.  Magic,  they 
say,  is  the  union  of  a  spirit  with  a  spirit.  But  in  the  use  of  a 
talisman  there  is  the  union  of  a  spirit  with  a  material  object; 
in  idea,  a  joining  of  the  upper,  heavenly  natures  with  the  lower 
natures.  The  upper  natures  are  the  spiritualities  of  the 
stars,  and  on  that  account  the  holder  of  a  talisman  mostly 
seeks  aid  in  astrology.  The  magician,  again,  according  to  the 
philosophers,  cannot  acquire  the  art  of  magic,  but  must  have 
it  constitutionally.  He  has  the  peculiar  ability  to  exercise 
this  kind  of  influence. 

Their  distinction  between  magic  and  miracle,  then,  is  that 
miracle  is  a  divine  ability,  giving  the  soul  this  power  of 
influence;  the  prophet  is  aided  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  But  the 
magician  does  it  of  himself,  by  his  own  psychical  power,  or 
by  Satanic  aid,  under  some  conditions. 

The  distinction  of  the  philosophers,  then,  went 
down  to  the  very  nature  of  the  thing.  But  Ibn 
Khaldun  himself  is  inclined  to  follow  the  external 
signs  of  the  difference: 

A  miracle  is  what  is  worked  by  a  good  man,  for  good 


Ii8    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

objects  and  for  purified  souls,  and  by  way  of  proof  of  the 
prophetic  office.  Magic  is  worked  only  by  an  evil  man,  for 
evil  purposes  and  with  evil  results.  This,  according  to 
philosophical  theologians,  is  the  distinction  between  the  two. 

I  do  not  understand  that  Ibn  Khaldiin  would 
entirely  reject  the  view  of  the  philosophers,  as  given 
above,  but  only  that  he  regards  his  own  distinction 
— he  here  evidently  reckons  himself  with  the  philo- 
sophical theologians — as  more  simple,  and  as  giving 
also  the  essentials  in  the  case.  That  a  distinc- 
tion between  miracles  and  magic  was  felt  to  be 
necessary  will  explain  why  I  give  so  much  time  to 
magic  now.  Just  as  in  the  case  of  an  Oriental,  it 
is  impossible  to  separate  between  his  philosophy 
and  his  theology,  so  it  is  impossible  to  separate 
between  his  religion  and  what  we  have,  in  a  some- 
what narrow  spirit,  got  into  the  habit  of  calling 
"superstition,"  or,  more  liberally,  "folk-lore." 

But  not  prophets  only  and  magicians  can  thus 
bend  the  order  of  the  world.  The  Sufis,  too,  or 
saints,  have  their  miracles,  and  exercise  a  similar 
influence.  This  is  really  a  far  more  important 
distinction.  Muhammad  was  the  last  prophet,  and 
a  consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  prophetic  mira- 
cles is  thus  largely  a  subject  for  the  schools.  But 
the  miracles  of  the  saints  are  happening  every  day, 
as  we  shall  see,  and  a  knowledge  of  them  is  a  most 
practical  matter.  They  take  place  only  by  the 
power  of  God  and  in  proportion  to  the  faith  of  the 


THE  EVIL  EYE  IN  ISLAM  119 

saint  and  the  closeness  of  his  intercourse  with  God. 
Thus,  by  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  it  is  impossible 
that  he  can  give  himself  to  evil,  but  is  held  closely 
by  the  command  and  the  permission  of  God.  Him, 
too,  magic  cannot  oppose;  it  collapses  and  vanishes 
at  his  touch.  So  the  enchanted  flag  of  Persia,  signed 
with  magic  numbers  in  planetary  hour,  ensuring 
victory,  fell  before  the  Companions  of  the  Prophet 
at  al-Qadisiya,  where  the  empire  of  the  Chosroes 
went  down  for  ever. 

Last  among  the  influences  exerted  by  the  soul,  Ibn 
Khaldun  mentions  the  evil  eye,  the  Eye  as  it  is 
called  simply  in  the  East.  He  who  has  it,  sees  a 
thing,  admires  it,  envies  the  owner,  and  smites  him 
with  his  eye.  There  is  no  doubt  of  this;  but  it 
differs  from  all  other  magic,  in  that  it  needs  not  the 
will  of  him  who  has  it.  It  works  automatically 
and  he  cannot  control  it.  So,  if  anyone  kills  by 
magic  or  talisman,  he  is  to  be  put  to  death;  but  not 
if  he  kills  with  the  Eye. 

Finally,  as  to  all  this,  Ibn  Khaldun  makes  a  very 
curious  and  illuminating  statement.  It  is  perfectly 
evident  throughout  his  book  that  he  is  discussing 
these  matters  in  a  spirit  of  the  keenest  intellectual 
curiosity  and  interest.  Such  subjects  interested  him, 
as  they  are  interesting  so  many  of  us  now.  But  that 
is  the  paradox  of  which  he  seems  himself  to  have 
been  unconscious.  According  to  Mushm  law,  he 
says,  actions  are  allowable  if  they  are  important  for 


I20    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

us  (a)  religiously,  that  is  for  our  final  salvation,  or 
(b)  temporally,  for  our  living  in  this  world.  If  a 
thing  does  not  concern  us  from  either  of  these  points 
of  view,  and  if  there  is  in  it  any  hurtfulness,  either 
actual  as  in  the  case  of  magic,  or  imagined  as  in  the 
case  of  astrology,  it  is  legally  forbidden.  But, 
further,  if  it  is  not  of  importance  to  us,  nor  is  hurtful, 
it  is  still  to  be  avoided ;  letting  such  things  alone  is 
a  drawing  near  to  God,  for  part  of  the  beauty  of 
a  man's  islam,  resignation  to  God,  is  leaving  alone 
what  does  not  concern  him. 

This,  you  will  see,  throws  an  astonishing  flood  of 
light  upon  MusHm  ideals.  Contrary  to  his  own  plain, 
but  evidently  unconscious  practice,  Ibn  Khaldun 
teaches  that  the  true  Muslim  must  give  up  and 
avoid  anything  that  is  not  directly  of  moment 
for  his  life  in  this  world  or  the  next.  All  that  we 
would  reckon  as  the  "interesting"  is  swept  away; 
the  useful  alone  is  in  point.  And  this  is  not  Ibn 
Khaldun's  view  only.  With  him  the  theologians  of 
Islam  agree.  If  they  have  a  section  on  the  excellence 
of  science  {}l  jadli-l-Hlm)  there  is  certain  to  follow  it 
another  on  the  praiseworthy  and  the  blameworthy 
sciences  (al-Hilum  al-mahmuda  wal-madhmuma) . 
Knowledge  for  its  own  sake  has  no  place;  it  must  be 
of  use  for  this  world  or  the  next.  And  this  is  not 
simply  theological;  it  is  in  the  very  texture  of  the 
Muslim  mind.  We  can  say,  "This  is  an  interesting 
book;"   in  Arabic  you  cannot  express  that  idea.     I 


C\ 


UTILITARIANISM  IN  ISLAM  I2I 

turn  to  Badger's  English-Arabic  Lexicon  and  find 
a  large  quarto  page  on  "  Interest "  and  its  derivations. 
But  it  only  helps  you  to  say  that  the  book  gives 
pleasure  or  amuses  or  is  desirable  or  useful  or 
touching  or  surprising  or  important  or  sways  you 
or  captivates  you,  never  that  it  arouses  that  disin- 
terested intellectual  curiosity  which  we  so  strangely 
call  *' interest."  Even  curiosity,  in  the  highest 
and  finest  sense,  we  cannot  render.  It  is  either 
deep,  devoted  study  and  research,  or  intrusive 
spying. 

Here,  beyond  question,  we  have  one  of  the  keys 
to  the  fatal  defect  in  the  Muslim  mind.  Exceptions, 
of  course,  there  have  been,  conscious  and  uncon- 
scious, but  the  whole  trend  of  usage  and  weight  of 
influence  have  gone  to  limit  and  destroy  free  intel- 
lectual workings ;  the  object  must  be  plain  from  the 
first,  and  be  one  of  certain  classified  kinds.  Investi- 
gation which  does  not  know  where  it  is  going  to 
come  out,  and  what  it  may  produce,  and  does  not 
care,  is  under  the  Muslim  ban.  Amusement,  even, 
must  justify  its  existence  by  its  usefulness;  recrea- 
tion must  seek  protection  behind  wise  saws  about 
making  Jack  a  dull  boy  and  tales  about  the  surprising 
humors  and  unbendings  of  saints.  The  free,  self- 
determining,  self -developing  soul  may  not  walk  its 
own  path,  however  innocently,  but  must  fit  itself  to 
the  scheme  and  pattern  of  schools. 

And  this  does  not  hold  of  the  Arabic  world  only. 


122    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Here  is  what  one  of  the  keenest  observers  of  Islam 

in  recent  years  has  to  say  on  the  matter: 

Few  things  throw  a  more  instructive  light  on  the  character 
of  a  nation  than  an  examination  of  the  ideas  which  cannot 
be  expressed  in  their  language.  Now  the  Turkish  language, 
copious  as  it  is,  contains  no  equivalent  for  "interesting." 
You  can  say,  this  is  a  useful  book,  or  a  funny  book,  or  a  learned 
book,  or  a  book  which  attracts  attention,  but  you  cannot 
precisely  translate  our  expression,  "This  is  an  interesting 
book."  Similarly  you  cannot  render  in  Turkish  the  precise 
shade  of  meaning  conveyed  by  the  phrase,  "I  take  an  interest 
in  the  Eastern  question,  or  the  Mohammedan  religion." 
The  various  approximate  equivalents  imply  either  a  more 
active  and  less  intellectual  participation  than  that  denoted 
by  interest,  or  else  suggest  that  these  serious  subjects  are 
something  queer  and  funny  which  it  is  amusing  to  hear  about. 
This  lacuna  in  the  language  has  its  counterpart  in  the  brain. 
The  ordinary  Turk  does  not  take  an  interest  in  anything^ 
and  his  intelligence  seems  incapable  of  grappling  with  any 
problem  more  complex  than  his  immediate  daily  needs.  A 
natural  want  of  curiosity,  and  a  conviction  that  their  own 
religion  contains  all  that  man  knows  or  needs  to  know,  keep 
the  provincial  population  in  a  state  of  ignorance  which  seems 
incredible  and  fantastic.^ 

This  certainly  is  too  strongly  expressed  to  apply 

to   the    much    keener-witted    Syrian,    Arabian,    or 

Egyptian.     But  the  lack  of  the  idea  of  free,  untram- 

meled  interest,  and  the  rejection  of  everything  that 

may  in  some  remote  development  loosen  the  sense  of 

dependence  on  God  characterize  all ;  which,  to  come 

round  to  our  starting-point,  makes  only  more  sur- 

I  Turkey  in  Europe,  by  "  Odysseus,"  p.  98. 


UTILITARIANISM  IN  ISLAM  123 

prising  Ibn  Khaldun's  fresh,  open-eyed  attention  to 
the  phenomena  of  life. 

I  have  spent  so  much  time  on  this  because  it  is 
not  alien,  nay,  is  very  pertinent  to  our  present  sub- 
ject. One  of  the  most  astonishing  things  in  Muslim 
religious  feeling  is  that  even  its  mystical  attitudes 
are  utilitarian.  Normally,  among  all  peoples,  the 
mystic  is  so  plunged  in  the  experiences  of  the  moment 
that  the  future  fades  out  of  reality.  When  he  is 
struggling  to  find  peace  he  is  not  concerned  with  his 
salvation  from  hell-fire,  but  only  that  the  choking 
burden  of  the  present  may  be  lifted  from  him.  When 
he  has  reached  peace,  the  vision  and  the  light  of  God 
are  on  his  daily  path,  and  in  them  he  walks.  God 
is  in  the  world  and  he  is  with  God.  I  should  be 
loth  to  say  that  this  mystical  disinterestedness  is  not 
also  found  in  Islam,  but  far  more  frequent  and 
always  possible  is  the  coarser,  harder  fear  of  the 
Fire;  the  sense  of  God  as  the  relentless  Watcher  in 
whose  presence  no  soul  can  stand. 

We  have  seen  already,  how  the  conversion  even  of 
such  a  saint  as  al-Ghazzali  was  such  simple  fear; 
fear  as  of  an  earthly  sovereign  who  might  doom  to 
death  if  unrecognized;  such  fear  as  our  revivals 
too  often  have  known.  Certainly  there  mingled  in 
it  the  baffled  struggles  of  his  intellect,  snared  in  the 
net  of  this  most  unintelligible  world,  overborne  by 
the  burden  of  its  travail  and  mystery.  But  once  he 
had  reached  the  sense  of  a  God  behind  the  veil — the 


124    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Allah  of  the  theologies  of  his  day — the  fear  of  that 
Allah  overwhelmed  him.  Thereafter  he  might  have 
moments  of  reconciliation  and  communion,  but  al- 
ways watching  was  the  dread  of  a  quickly  offended 
possibly  implacable  deity.  "Only  by  the  mercy  of 
Allah,"  said  the  Prophet,  ''can  I  hope  to  enter  the 
Garden;  and  so  all  Muslims  have  said.  The  love  of 
God  is  an  afterthought. 

So,  too,  Ibn  Khaldun^  warns  against  plunging 
into  speculation  on  the  mysteries  of  the  divine 
Unity.  It  is  sufficient  for  eternal  salvation  simply 
to  confess  that  Unity  in  the  broad.  To  go  farther 
will  lead  to  nothing  but  disappointment  and,  it  may 
be,  unbelief.  The  Prophet  said,  "Whoever  dies 
testifying  that  there  is  no  God  but  Allah,  will  enter 
the  Garden." 

Still  more  curious  is  the  position  of  Averroes. 
He  led  a  double  existence  with  two  sharply  distin- 
guished sets  of  views.  Openly  he  was  a  broad-school 
Muslim,  who,  while  he  admitted  that  the  mass  of 
the  people  should  be  taught  the  simple  statements 
of  the  Qur^dn  without  explanation  or  discussion, 
claimed  for  himself  and  all  educated  men  the  right 
to  speculate  and  explain  these  statements  so  as  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  philosophy.  But  this  was 
simply  for  protection.  On  the  other  side,  he  was  a 
neo-Platonic-Aristotelian  philosopher,  separated  by 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  459;  Bulaq,  p.  383;  de  Slane's  transla- 
tion, Vol.  Ill,  p.  42. 


UTILITARIANISM  IN  ISLAM  125 

three  great  heresies  from  the  Islam  of  his  time.  He 
held  the  eternity  of  the  material  world ;  he  held  that 
God  cannot  know  individuals,  cannot  exercise  provi- 
dence in  any  usual  sense,  can  only  produce  and 
embrace  the  Whole;  he  held  that  the  race  alone  was 
eternal,  but  all  individuals  must  pass  away.  Natur- 
ally, then,  he  was  driven  to  two  positions  on  the 
matter  of  salvation.  In  his  books  intended  for  the 
reading  of  ordinary,  educated  men,  he  followed 
the  regular  Muslim  doctrine  and  taught  that  true 
knowledge  is  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  especially 
of  the  religious  law,  and  of  happiness  and  unhappi- 
ness  in  the  world  to  come.'  In  his  philosophical 
writings,  on  the  other  hand,  intended  for  students 
of  Aristotle,  he  denounces  all  popular  myths  about 
the  future  life.  Among  dangerous  fictions,  he  says, 
we  must  count  those  which  tend  to  present  virtue  as 
simply  a  means  of  arriving  at  happiness.  If  virtue 
is  nothing  more,  no  one  will  abstain  from  pleasure 
except  in  the  hope  of  being  recompensed  with  usury;  . 
a  brave  man  will  not  seek  death,  except  to  avoid  a 
greater  evil ;  a  just  man  will  not  respect  the  goods  of 
another,  except  to  acquire  double.^  Nothing  could 
show  the  normal  Muslim  position  and  its  results 
more  clearly. 
Before  leaving  the  subject  of  magic  and  talismans, 

I  Philosophie  u.  Theologie  von  Averroes  ....  iibers.  von  M.  J. 
Mailer,  p.  18. 

a  Renan,  Averroes  et  VAverroisme,  p.  156. 


126    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

one  or  two  general  considerations  will  be  in  place. 
First,  you  must  not  think  that  such  things  belong 
to  a  past  age  of  Islam  and  have  now  lost  their  hold 
except  upon  the  most  ignorant.  That  is  not  so. 
From  the  one  end  of  the  Muslim  world  to  the  other, 
an  unquestioning  faith  in  the  magician  still  reigns. 
Scattered  among  the  educated  classes,  it  is  true,  you 
will  meet  a  good  deal  of  absolute  Voltairean  unbelief, 
but  even  these  individuals  are  liable  to  set  back  at 
any  time.  The  shell  that  separates  the  Oriental 
from  the  Unseen  is  still  very  thin,  and  the  charm  or 
amulet  of  the  magician  may  easily  break  it.  The 
world  of  the  Arabian  Nights  is  still  his  world,  and 
these  stories  for  him  are  not  tales  from  wonderland, 
but  are,  rather,  to  be  compared  to  our  stories  of  the 
wonders  and  possibihties  of  science,  such  as  M. 
Jules  Verne  used  to  write  and  which  we  now  owe 
to  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells.  So  Lane,  in  his  time,  found  the 
magic  mirror  in  Cairo,  and  he  and  others  had  some 
most  interesting  experiences.  You  will  find  these 
brought  together  in  Mr.  N.  W.  Thomas'  book  on 
Crystal  Gazing.  Only  I  would  add  that  when  Mr. 
Thomas  says,  (p.  94)  that  Lane  was  eventually  in- 
clined to  ascribe  the  magician's  success  to  a  certain 
renegade  Scotsman,  he  goes  too  far.  Scots  have 
been  responsible  for  a  good  deal,  but  not,  in  Lane's 
final  opinion,  for  this.  A  note  by  his  nephew  to  a 
later  edition  of  his  Arabian  Nights  (Vol.  I,  p.  60) 
says  that  there  were  cases  which  remained  to  him 


MAGIC  IN  ISLAM  127 

inexplicable.  The  magic  mirror,  I  may  add,  is  still 
in  popular  use  in  Cairo.  Only  now  no  professional 
magician  is  needed.  Books  have  been  printed 
describing  the  mode  of  using  it  and  all  classes 
experiment  for  themselves.  Very  few  doubt  the  truth 
of  its  revelations. 

More  recent  evidence  is  given  in  Professor  E. 
G.  Browne's  Year  Among  the  Persians.  There  he 
met  a  magician  who  produced  in  his  presence  some 
most  interesting  telekinetic  phenomena  similar  to 
those  which  Dr.  Maxwell  has  described  in  his  Meta- 
psychical  Phenomena  (pp.  318  ff.)  as  performed  by  a 
medium  whom  he  calls  Meurice.  They  included 
moving  a  comb  and  a  watch  lying  about  three  feet 
from  the  magician.  Unfortunately,  Professor  Browne 
did  not  follow  the  matter  up,  being  disgusted  appar- 
ently by  some  lies  which  he  found  the  magician  was 
telling  about  him.  He  had  also  heard  stories  of  the 
magic  mirror,  but  had  had  no  experiences  himself. 
A  tale  told  to  him  of  experiences  in  learning  to  con- 
trol the  Jinn  I  shall  take  up  later. 

But,  secondly,  while  belief  in  the  power  of  magic 
is  spread  generally  throughout  Islam,  and  few  doubt 
that  the  magician  by  his  spells  can  break  the  thin 
shell  of  custom  and  law,  and  work  what  the  results 
only  can  distinguish  from  God-given  miracle,  this 
does  not  affect  the  Muslim  religious  attitude  so  much 
as  might  be  thought.  The  overwhelming  fact  of 
the  personality,  the  will  and  power  of  God  is  over 


128    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

all,  and  under  that  shadow  men  feel  secure.  At  the 
opposite  extreme  from  Islam,  in  this  respect,  are 
those  lowest  religions,  in  which  the  gods,  as  innocu- 
ous, are  ignored,  and  demons — practically  magic  and 
witchcraft — are  feared  and  propitiated.  But  in  Islam 
the  puzzle  is,  rather,  how  any  forms  of  black  magic 
can  survive  and  any  magician  dare  to  set  himself 
against  Allah.  That  the  art  was  and  is  cultivated  is 
certain;  but  probably  the  student  soothes  his  con- 
science and  allays  his  fears  by  doubts  as  to  the  precise 
nature  of  the  spirits  he  invokes,  much  as  he  of  medi- 
aeval Europe  felt  sure  that  in  the  end  he  could  cheat 
the  devil,  who  was  notoriously  stupid. 

Finally,  if  you  would  appreciate  the  tremendous 
difference  of  atmosphere  which  this  distinction  in- 
volves, compare  with  the  Arabian  Nights  the  Golden 
Ass  of  Apuleius.  Both  books  are  instinct  with  piety 
of  a  kind;  in  each  case,  in  a  setting,  for  us,  most 
certainly  queer.  It  has  been  said,  that  the  Golden 
Ass  is  the  first  book  in  European  literature  showing 
piety  in  the  modern  sense,  and  the  most  disreputable 
adventures  of  Lucius  lead,  it  is  true,  in  the  end,  to 
a  religious  climax.  The  Arabian  Nights,  on  the 
other  hand,  is,  in  spite  of  everything,  so  pious  that 
the  sense  of  the  all-seeing  eye  and  the  need  of  sub- 
mission to  the  all-guiding  hand  become  oppressive. 
But  how  different  in  each  is  the  feeling  toward  the 
Unseen !  Few  books,  in  spite  of  fantastic  gleams  of 
color  and  light,  move  under  such  leaden-weighted 


MAGIC  IN  ISLAM  129 

skies  as  the  Golden  Ass.  There  is  no  real  God  in 
that  world;  all  things  are  in  the  hands  of  enchanters; 
man  is  without  hope  for  here  and  hereafter;  full  of 
yearnings,  he  struggles  and  takes  refuge  in  strange 
cults.  But  the  world  of  the  Arabian  Nights  is  God's 
world.  There  is  sun  and  air  and  the  sense  of  an 
ultimate  justice.  Joy  comes  with  the  morning  there. 
And  so,  for  all  his  belief  in  magic  and  his  sense 
of  the  power  of  enchanters,  the  Muslim  is  a  man. 
He  stands  on  God's  earth,  beneath  his  sky,  and 
at  any  time  can  enter  that  presence  and  carry  his 
wrong  to  the  highest  court.  Between  him  and  Allah 
there  stands  nothing,  and  he  is  absolutely  sure  of 
Allah. 


LECTURE  V 

INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN;  SPIRITS, 
DEMONS,  GHOSTS  IN  ISLAM. 

The  next  point  of  contact  with  the  Unseen  to 
which  I  turn  has  much  more  immediate  connection 
with  religion,  as  we  understand  that  word.  Though 
Ibn  Khaldun  has,  from  time  to  time,  been  com- 
pelled to  make  mention  of  the  Jinn,  he  has  no  section 
dealing  explicitly  with  them;  on  them  he  never 
relieves  his  mind.  The  simple  reason  is  that  he 
could  not;  that  his  views  on  them  were  too  far  from 
those  of  the  Muslim  world  to  be  stated  in  such  a 
book  as  he  was  writing.  He  accepted  the  great  fact 
of  the  institution  of  prophecy;  he  accepted  the 
personal  mission  of  Muhammad  and  the  authority 
of  the  book  revealed  through  him,  because  he  also 
felt  compelled  to  accept  man's  absolute  depend- 
ence on  God,  and  to  admit  that  the  researches,  the 
reasonings,  and  the  systems  of  the  philosophers  had 
been  a  failure.  Viewing  life  from  the  side  of  reason 
he  was  an  agnostic ;  by  that  path  the  ultimate  realities 
could  not  be  reached.  But  the  reason  is  not  the  only 
pathway  to  reality,  and  is  only  one  side  of  man's 
nature.  On  another  side,  that  of  the  life  of  the  soul, 
man  came  forth  from  God  and  can  still  have  contact 
with  God.  This  has  already  been  made  plain,  again 
and  again.     Nor  is  it  peculiar  in  the  slightest  to  Ibn 

130 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       13 1 

Khaldun.  He  derived  it  from  al-Ghazzall;  he  was  a 
convinced  Ghazzalian. 

And  so,  too,  were  the  rest  of  Islam.  This,  which 
some  might  compare  with  the  pragmatic  or  human- 
istic position  to  which  many  of  us  have  drifted  in 
these  last  years,  is  the  standard  attitude  of  Islam 
toward  the  problem  of  religion  and  metaphysics. 
All  metaphysical  systems  have  failed  and  must  fail. 
The  thinkers  of  Islam  had  been  through  them  all, 
and  had  come  out  with  empty  hands.  Reason,  how- 
ever subtle,  could  find  no  means  of  passing  from 
''me"  to  ''thee,"  from  the  effect  to  the  cause.  But 
the  soul  of  man  could  go  out  from  the  body  in 
many  ways;  could  meet  the  outstretched  help  of 
God  and  therein  find  peace  and  rest.  It  is  true  that 
the  soul,  when  it  returned,  must  translate  its  message 
in  terms  of  human  experience;  the  veil  of  the 
senses,  in  which  the  body  clothed  it,  required  that. 
But  the  message  was  delivered,  however  its  garb 
might  vary;  so  much  man  could  know  with  absolute 
certainty. 

Starting  from  this  position,  then,  Ibn  Khaldun 
looked  out  on  the  world  with  all  its  varied,  changing 
phenomena,  and  tried  to  interpret  and  realize  it  in 
terms  of  these  ideas.  It  seemed  to  him  that  the 
pieces  of  the  puzzle  fell  together  of  themselves.  All 
through  the  world  he  found  this  reaching  and 
groaning  of  the  soul  after  its  source.  As  the  Chris- 
tian church  speaks  of  the  fullness  of  time,  so  he  felt 


132    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

that  all  these  yearnings  led  up  to  the  final  revelation 
in  Muhammad.  That  revelation,  then,  in  the 
Qur^dn  he  had  to  interpret  again  to  himself  in  terms 
of  the  phenomena  around  him. 

And  he  succeeded  in  great  part.  He  found  in  life 
corresponding  phenomena  for  everything  in  the 
Qur^dn  except  the  individual  personal  spirits,  the 
angels  and  the  Jinn.  Of  such  things  he  had  had 
no  experience  and,  therefore,  to  these  words  he 
could  attach  no  ideas.  The  spiritual  world,  in  the 
broad,  he  knew,  but  not  personalities  therein.  In 
all  this  to  which  we  have  now  come,  you  will  remem- 
ber, that  Ibn  Khaldun  stands  by  himself.  No  other 
Muslim  ever  looked  with  such  clear,  untroubled 
vision  at  the  facts  of  life,  reckoned  with  them  all, 
and  tried  to  rationalize  them  all,  as  did  he.  So  he 
had  never  known  angels  and,  it  is  plain,  had  had  no 
personal  experience  of  the  Jinn.  Soothsayers  and 
magicians  he  had  known,  tested,  and  accepted;  he 
had  had  dreams  and  found  them  valid;  of  the 
miracles  of  the  saints  he  was  firmly  convinced; 
but  he  had  never  seen  any  of  the  Jinn,  and  so  he 
blocked  them  out  from  his  reckoning. 

Only  in  one  passage  in  his  book,  and  that,  too, 
as  we  have  seen  already,  occurring  only  in  a  few 
MSS  and  apparently  added  as  an  afterthought,  does 
he  speak  of  them.     There,  ^  he  puts  the  verses  of 

I  De  Slane's  translation,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  68;  the  passage  is  not 
in  the  Bulaq  or  Beyrout  texts. 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN        I33 

the  Qur^dn  which  mention  them  in  the  "obscure" 
(mutashdbih)  class.  All  Qur^dn  verses  are  divided 
into  ''clear"  (muhkam)  and  "obscure;"  a  division 
which  delivers  Muslims  from  the  difficulties  of  the 
doctrine  of  inspiration,  much  as  do  our  human  and 
divine  elements  in  the  Scriptures.  Naturally,  theolo- 
gians are  little  agreed  as  to  what  the  true  "obscure" 
verses  are,  and  reckon  in  that  class  those  which 
their  systems  find  hard  to  digest. 

But  Ibn  Khaldun,  in  thus,  out  of  his  respect  for 
facts,  disregarding  the  Jinn  entirely,  was  really  ignor- 
ing one  of  the  most  primitive  sources  of  old  Arab- 
bian  religion.  The  Jinn  were  the  nymphs  and 
satyrs  of  the  desert;  all  wild,  solitary  nature  was 
full  of  them;  in  a  sense  they  typified  that  side  of  the 
life  of  nature  which  was  still  unsubdued  and  still 
hostile  to  man.  They  were  in  constant  connection 
with  wild  animals  and  often  appeared  in  animal 
forms.  Whether  they  were  originally  animal  fetiches 
and  what  their  relation  was  to  totemism  we  need  not 
here  consider.  Our  subject  does  not  reach  so  far 
back.  But  the  difference  between  them  and  the 
primitive  Semitic  gods,  as  Robertson  Smith  well 
puts  it,'  is  simply  that  the  gods  have  worshipers, 
and  they  have  not.  That  means  that  the  gods  have 
entered  into  fixed,  personal  relations  with  men,  are 
no  longer  hostile,  and  dwell  in  sanctuaries  that  are 
no  longer  dangerous,  though,  it  may  be,  awful. 

I  Religion  of  the  Semites',  p.  121. 


134    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Robertson  Smith  thus  goes  on,  in  what  is  a  locus 
classicus  for  our  subject: 

In  fact  the  earth  may  be  said  to  be  parceled  out  between 
demons  and  wild  beasts  on  the  one  hand,  and  gods  and  men 
on  the  other.  To  the  former  belong  the  untrodden  wilderness 
with  all  its  unknown  perils,  the  wastes  and  jungles  that  lie 
outside  the  familiar  tracks  and  pasture  grounds  of  the  tribe, 
and  which  only  the  boldest  men  venture  upon  without  terror; 
to  the  latter  belong  the  regions  that  man  knows  and  habitually 
frequents,  and  within  which  he  has  established  relations,  not 
only  with  his  human  neighbors,  but  with  the  supernatural 
beings  that  have  their  haunts  side  by  side  with  him.  And  as 
man  gradually  encroaches  on  the  wilderness  and  drives  back 
the  wild  beasts  before  him,  so  the  gods  in  like  manner  drive 
out  the  demons,  and  spots  that  were  once  feared,  as  the  habi- 
tation of  mysterious  and  presumably  malignant  powers,  lose 
their  terrors  and  either  become  common  ground  or  are  trans- 
formed into  the  seats  of  friendly  deities.  From  this  point  of 
view,  the  recognition  of  certain  spots  as  haunts  of  the  gods  is  the 
religious  expression  of  the  gradual  subjugation  of  nature  by  man. 

But  when  we  reach  Muhammad's  time,  the  situa- 
tion  has  greatly  cleared  and  simplified.  No  essential 
connection  remained  between  the  Jinn  and  wild 
beasts.  They  had  become  spirits  with  some  curious 
animal  associations.  For  example,  they  appeared 
riding  upon  animals,  as,  in  another  connection,  they 
were  accompanied  by  manifestations  of  Hght.  The 
heathen  Meccans  associated  them  with  Allah  as 
his  sons  and  daughters,  or  they  were  made  partners 
with  Allah. ^    They  also,  as  we  have  seen,  inspired 

^Qur.  vi,  loo. 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       13  5 

the  kdhins  and  poets,  and  Muhammad  was  said 
to  be  possessed  by  one.      In  a  word,   they    fur- 
nished for  the  Arabs  their  general  background  of 
the  supernatural,  out  of  which  rose  pre-eminently 
Allah,  and  less  eminently  but  more  intimately  to 
the  hearts  of  the  worshipers,  the  various  tribal  gods. 
Allah,  Muhammad  accepted  and  made  the  one,  only 
God.     The  Jinn  remained  for  him  real,  rational 
beings,  but  the  creation  of  Allah  and  under  his  rule. 
How  he  conceived  their  relations  to  the  angels,  the 
messengers  of  Allah,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the 
devils,  especially  to   Iblls,    6    Sta^oXo?— an    effect 
from  Judaism  and  Christianity — on  the  other,  is 
obscure  because  of  his  own  uncertainty  and  lack  of 
decision.     Certain  it  is  that  for  him  the  two  salvable 
races  on  earth  were  the  Jinn  and  mankind,  these 
two  before  Allah  were  on  exactly  the  same  footing. 
To  the  Jinn,  then,  he  must  proclaim  Islam  as  he 
did  to  mankind.      And  that  was  done.      In  chap. 
Ixxii  of  the  Qur^dn  we  read  the  words  of  Allah  to 
Muhammad,  revealing  that  this  had  taken  place, 
and  telling  him  to  inform  the  people  of  it: 

Say  [O  Muhammad],  "It  has  been  revealed  to  me  that  a 
small  company  of  the  Jinn  listened,  then  said,  'We  have 
heard  a  wondrous  Qur^an  [or  recitation],  guiding  to  right; 
so  we  believe  in  it  and  we  certainly  will  not  join  any  as  a 
companion  to  our  Lord.'  " 

The  revelation  goes  on  to  give  the  confession  of 
faith  made  then  by  these  Jinn,  and  introduces  inci- 


136    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

dentally  some  points  which  interest  us  as  showing 
how  the  heathen  Arabs  regarded  the  Jinn.  Men, 
under  certain  conditions,  "sought  refuge"  with  the 
Jinn.  That  is,  invoked  their  help  and  protection. 
The  Jinn  used  to  ascend  to  heaven  and  listen  there 
in  order  to  learn  what  was  decreed  by  God.  "  Now,' ' 
they  said,  ''whoever  listens  finds  there  for  him  a 
shooting-star  waiting."  The  angels  hurled  these  at 
them  to  drive  them  off. 

In  chap,  xlvi,  28  ff.,  mention  is  again  made  how  a 
small  company  of  the  Jinn  gathered  to  hear  the 
Prophet  and  then  dispersed  to  carry  the  message  to 
their  brethren.  There  are  many  other  references 
in  the  Qur^dn  to  the  Jinn,  all  accepting  quite  simply 
their  existence  as  a  race  on  earth  beside  that  of  the 
Sons  of  Adam;  the  phrase,  "  the  Jinn  and  mankind," 
occurs  again  and  again.  With  them,  as  I  have 
already  said,  Iblis,  0  Sta/5o\o9,  is  curiously  confused ; 
sometimes  being  reckoned  a  fallen  angel,  and  some- 
times one  of  them.  Several  times  we  are  told  that 
he  refused  to  prostrate  himself  to  Adam  when  the 
other  angels  did  so.  In  one  of  these  passages 
(xxxviii)  he  is  explicitly  said  to  be  one  of  the  Jinn, 
and  mankind  is  asked,  ''  Do  ye  then  take  him  and 
his  seed  as  patrons  (awliyd)  instead  of  me  ?"  This 
is  an  allusion  to  the  semi-worship  of  the  Jinn  by  the 
heathen  Arabs. 

So  far,  then,  the  Qur^dn.     But  these  references, 
though  plain,  do  not  carry  us  very  far.    Muhammad 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       13  7 

is  either  artistically  or  really  modest  in  his  claims. 
The  great  controversy  among  Muslim  theologians, 
as  to  whether  Muhammad  ever  really  saw  the 
Jinn,  must  be  decided  in  the  negative.  The  Qur^dn 
is  explicit  that  all  this  was  a  revelation  to  him  from 
Allah.  But  tradition  has  not  been  content  with 
that,  and  the  fixed  belief  of  the  enormous  majority 
of  the  Muslim  church  is  that  he  had  divers  direct 
interviews,  face  to  face,  with  these  spirits.  Some 
are  most  picturesquely  told,  with  details  suggesting 
western  magic. 

I  choose  one,  not  because  of  its  superior  historicity 
— for  all  are  equally  unhistorical — but  because  of 
its  detail,  which  commended  it  to  the  later  Muslim 
imagination  and  makes  it  more  representative  for 
us.  It  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  az-Zubayr  ibn  al- 
^Awwam,  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  believers,  and 
one  also  of  the  ten  who  were  personally  promised 
by  the  Prophet  that  they  would  enter  the  Garden: 

One  day  the  Prophet  prayed  the  morning  prayer  with  us  in 
the  mosque  of  al-Madlna.  Then,  when  he  had  finished,  he 
said,  ''Which  of  you  will  follow  me  to  a  deputation  of  the 
Jinn  tonight?"  But  the  people  kept  silence  and  none  said 
anything.  He  said  it  three  times;  then  he  walked  past  me 
and  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  I  walked  with  him  until  all 
the  mountains  of  al-Madina  were  distant  from  us  and  we 
had  reached  the  open  country.  And  there  were  men,  tall 
as  lances,  wrapped  completely  in  their  mantles  from  their 
feet  up.  When  I  saw  them  a  great  quivering  seized  upon 
me,  until  my  feet  would  hardly  support  me  from  fear. 
When  we  came  near  to  them  the  Prophet  drew  with  his  great 


138    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

toe  a  line  for  me  on  the  ground  and  said,  "Sit  in  the 
middle  of  that."  Then  when  I  had  sat  down,  all  fear  which 
I  had  felt  departed  from  me.  And  the  Prophet  passed 
between  me  and  them  and  recited  the  Qur^dn  in  a  loud  voice 
until  the  dawn  broke.  Then  he  came  past  me  and  said, 
"Take  hold  of  me."  So  I  walked  with  him,  and  we  went  a 
little  distance.  Then  he  said  to  me,  "Turn  and  look;  dost 
thou  see  any  one  where  these  were?"  I  turned  and  said, 
"O  Apostle  of  God,  I  see  much  blackness!"  He  bent  his 
head  to  the  ground  and  looked  at  a  bone  and  a  piece  of  dung, 
and  cast  them  to  them.  Thereafter  he  said,  "These  are  a 
deputation  of  the  Jinn  of  Nasibin;  they  asked  of  me  traveling 
provender;  so  I  appointed  for  them  all  bones  and  pieces  of 
dung." 

This  end  is  rather  puzzling  but  it  seems  to  occur 
in  all  the  stories  of  this  kind.  I  take  it  that  it  is 
an  attempt  to  explain  a  part  of  the  ritual  law  dealing 
with  purification.^     In  one  form  it  runs: 

The  Prophet  said  to  them  [the  Jinn],  "Yours  is  every  bone 
over  which  the  name  of  God  has  been  spoken;  ye  shall  take  it 
and  it  shall  be  in  your  hands  the  richest  possible  in  flesh;  and 
dung  shall  be  provender  for  your  beasts."  Then  he  said  [to 
his  followers],  "So  do  not  use  these  two  things  for  purifying; 
they  are  the  food  of  your  brethren." 

Of  these  legends  there  are  curious  later  echoes. 
Stories  came  down  of  Muslims  who  saw  Jinn  or 
heard  their  voices,  and  learned  from  them  that  they 
had  taken  part  in  these  famous  deputations  to  Mu- 
hammad. There  is  a  long  tale,  too,  of  one  aged 
Jinni  who  met  Muhammad  and  professed  Islam. 

I  Cf.  al-Bajuri  on  Ibn  Qasim,  Vol.  I,  p.  63,  fi-l-isiinjd;  edition 
of  Cairo,  a.  h.  1307. 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       139 

He  had  lived  in  the  days  when  Cain  slew  Abel,  and 
had  known  all  the  prophets  from  that  time  on. 
Jesus  had  commissioned  him  to  greet  Muhammad 
if  he  lived  into  his  time. 

But  this  whole  matter  is  far  too  vast  for  me  to  enter 
into  it  in  detail.  I  will  here  attempt  only  some  bits 
of  personal  experience,  and  the  like,  which  may 
make  living  for  you  the  conception  in  the  broad.  ^ 

That  the  Muslim  law  in  its  entirety  is  binding  on 
the  believing  Jinn  is  accepted  as  certain.  Whether 
they  have  had  prophets  of  their  own  kind  is  uncer- 
tain, but  not  that  Muhammad  was  a  prophet  to  them. 
That  they  will  enter  the  Garden  and  be  rewarded 
therein  is  almost  unanimously  accepted.  Iblls  him- 
self, of  course,  is  an  unbeliever  but  differing  grounds 
are  given  for  his  being  so  reckoned.  He  is  also  the 
supreme  tempter  of  men  and  is  conceived  of  as 
setting  his  wits  against  Allah  to  seduce  from  him  his 
creation.  He  brought  about  the  Fall,  but  it,  in  Islam, 
is  an  historical  event  only,  without  theological  con- 
sequences. Still,  traces  remain  of  a  doctrine  of 
original  sin.     The  following  story  is  strikingly  to  that 

I  Cf.,  on  the  whole  subject,  Lane,  Arabian  Nights,  Vol.  I, 
note  21  to  the  Introduction,  and  the  Arabian  Nights  themselves 
passim;  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians,  chap,  x;  also  Ad-Damiri's 
Haydt  al-Hayawdn,  ....  translated  from  the  Arabic  by 
A.  S.  G.  Jayakar,  London,  1906,  Vol.  I,  pp.  448  ff-;  for  heathen 
Arabia  see  Robertson  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites;  Wellhausen, 
Reste;  Goldziher,  Arabische  Philologie,  and  articles  by  Van 
Vloten  in  the  Wiener  Zeitschrijt  Jiir  die  Kunde  des  Morgenlandes, 
1893-94. 


I40    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

purpose,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  find  it  in  Arabic. 
I  give  it  in  E.  J.  W.  Gibb's   translation  from  the 

Turkish : 

From  that  time  when  Satan  was  cursed  and  driven  from 
Paradise  by  reason  of  Adam  (peace  on  him !)  he  pursued  him 
with  hatred  and  sought  to  take  vengeance.  He  had  a  son 
named  Khannas;  and  he  made  him  assume  the  form  of  a  kid, 
and  took  him  before  our  mother  Eve,  and  said,  "Let  this  kid 
remain  by  thee;  I  shall  come  now  and  fetch  it."  Eve  said, 
/'By  reason  of  thee  have  we  come  forth  from  Paradise;  art 
thou  come  now  again?"  Satan  replied,  "If  they  drove 
you  from  Paradise,  they  have  driven  me  thence,  too;  one  must 
pass  from  the  past."  And  he  left  the  kid  and  went  off. 
Saint  Adam  came  and  saw  the  kid,  and  he  said,  "Whose  kid 
is  this ?"  Eve  answered,  "Satan  has  left  it,  and  has  gone  off." 
He  said,  "I  will  come  now  and  fetch  it."  Saint  Adam  (peace 
on  him!)  was  wroth,  and  he  killed  the  kid,  and  threw  it  into 
the  desert  and  went  away.  Satan  came  and  said,  "Where 
is  the  kid?"  Eve  said,  "Adam  came  and  killed  the  kid, 
and  threw  it  into  the  desert."  Satan  cried  out,  "Khannas!" 
The  kid  said,  "Here  I  am,  father."  And  it  became  alive  and 
went  up  to  him.  Again  Satan  left  it,  and  went  off;  for  though 
Eve  entreated  him,  saying,  "Take  it,  and  go,"  he  would  not 
take  it.  Saint  Adam  came  and  saw  the  kid,  and  asked  about 
it,  and  Eve  told  him  what  had  happened.  Adam  said,  "Why 
didst  thou  keep  that  accursed  one's  kid?"  And  he  was 
angry  with  Eve;  and  he  cut  the  kid  into  many  pieces,  and 
threw  each  piece  in  a  different  direction,  and  went  away. 
Again  Satan  came  and  asked,  and  Eve  told  him  what  had 
happened.  Again  Satan  cried,  "O  Khannas!"  And  it 
answered,  "Here  I  am,  father."  And  it  became  alive  and 
went  up  to  him.  Again  Satan  left  it  and  went  off;  and 
though  Eve  said  many  times,  "Leave  it  not,"  it  was  of  no 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       141 

avail,  for  Satan  vanished.  Again  Adam  came  and  saw  the 
kid,  and  this  time  he  smote  Eve;  and  people  have  beaten 
their  wives  since  that  time.  Adam  seized  the  kid,  and  cut 
its  throat,  and  cooked  it,  and  he  and  Eve  ate  it;  then  he  went 
away.  Again  Satan  came  and  asked,  "Where  is  the  kid?" 
Eve  said,  ''This  time  was  Adam  wroth,  and  he  cut  its  throat, 
and  cooked  it,  and  we  both  of  us  ate  it."  Satan  again  cried, 
'*0  Khannas!"  This  time  it  answered  from  Eve's  belly, 
"Here  I  am,  father."  Satan  said,  ''My  son,  thou  hast  found 
thy  best  place;  let  us  tempt  the  sons  of  Adam,  thou  from 
within,  and  I  from  without,  till  the  resurrection,  and  urge 
them  to  many  sins,  and  make  them  deserving  of  hell."^ 

But  in  one  respect  the  Muslim  Iblis  differed 
markedly  from  the  Devil  of  mediaeval  Europe.  He 
was  lost  hopelessly — that  was  accepted — but  then  he 
was  also  the  father  of  all  the  Jinn,  believing  and  un- 
believing. There  was,  therefore,  with  all  his  strata- 
gems to  mislead  men,  a  kindly  side  to  his  nature.  He 
was  not  simply  stupid  as  in  European  devil-lore;  he 
was  also  humorous.  Often  in  the  Arabian  Nights 
he  plays  this  double  part;  showing  himself  most 
interested,  friendly,  and  amusing,  while  the  other 
characters  in  the  tale  scrupulously  refer  to  him  as 
''Iblis  the  Accursed."  Outstanding  examples  are  in 
the  Story  of  Sul  and  Shumul,  recently  published  and 
translated  by  Seybold,*  and  in  the  ''Story  of  Harun 
ar-Rashid  and  Tuhfat  al-Qulub.^ 

1  History  of  the  Forty  Vezirs,  p.  348. 

2  Leipzig,  1902. 

3  Payne,  Tales  from  the  Arabic,  Vol.  II,  p.  203;  Burton, 
Vol.  IX,  p.  291,  of  12  vol.  edit. 


142    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

From  many  of  these,  as  for  example,  "The  Story 
of  Abdullah  and  his  Brothers,"'  it  is  plain  that  the 
popular  imagination  had  brought  Harun  ar-RashId 
into  close  relationships  with  the  Jinn.  By  his 
strict  piety  and  exact  observance  of  his  religious 
duties — this  sounds  very  curious,  but  Harun  was 
pious  in  his  way — joined  to  his  position  as  successor 
of  Muhammad,  commander  of  the  faithful  and 
representative  of  Allah  on  earth,  he  had  complete 
control,  supernatural  and  natural,  of  both  Jinn  and 
mankind.  The  Jinn  added  to  his  wealth,  taught 
songs  and  airs  to  his  court  poets  and  musicians,  and 
took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  his  proclaimed  successor. 
For  the  last  point,  we  have  better  authority  than 
the  Arabian  Nights,  Ibn  Khallikan  tells  us  of  it 
in  connection  with  a  certain  poet,  who  was  the 
intermediary.^  To  this  poet  Harun  is  reported  to 
have  said,  ''If  thou  hast  seen  what  thou  tellest,  thou 
hast  seen  marvels;  if  not,  thou  hast  composed  a 
wonder."  This  must  not  be  taken  as  implying 
doubt  of  the  existence  of  the  Jinn;  that  were  heresy 
of  the  worst.  The  doubt  was  only  of  his  having  had 
intercourse  with  them;  for  it  was  a  much  contested 
point  whether  any  men  except  prophets  could  see 
them.  Some  few  lawyers  laid  it  down  flatly  that 
any  man  who  claimed  to  have  seen  them  was  not 
fit  to  be  a  legal  witness;    he  had  showed  himself 

I  Payne,  Arabian  Nights,  Vol.  IX;  Burton,  Vol.  VII,  p.  364. 
a  De  Slane's  translation,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  373;  Wiistenfeld,  No.  735. 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       143 

impious  in  claiming  what  the  law  did  not  admit. 
More  curious  still  is  a  Berber  story  in  which  Harun 
actually  marries  a  female  Jinnl.  I  know  it  only  by 
reference.^ 

Around  the  possibility  of  marriage  between  mankind 
and  the  Jinn  an  immense  literature  has  gathered. 
The  general  position  is  that  such  marriages  have 
frequently  taken  place  and  are  lawful;  some  few 
canon  lawyers,  however,  deny  their  legality  on  qur^- 
anic  grounds.^  According  to  the  present  code  of 
Ottoman  law,  following  the  school  of  Abu  Hanifa, 
such  marriages  are  illegal  ;3  one  reason  alleged  is 
because  a  Jinni  may  appear  in  either  sex.  But  these 
legal  doubts  the  broad  belief  of  the  Muslim  people 
laughs  to  scorn.  Probably  every  Muslim  has  heard 
of  or  been  in  some  relation  to  some  man  or  other, 
who  was  known  to  have  married  a  female  Jinni.  So 
Lane,  during  his  residence  at  Cairo,  had  a  Persian 
acquaintance  who  told  him  of  a  friend  of  his  own, 
who  had  had  such  an  experience. ^  The  idea  has 
also  often  served  to  cover  an  intrigue.  A  good 
example  of  this,  in  Alexandria,  in  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  is  to  be  found  in  Bayle  St.  John's  Two 
Years  in  a  Levantine  Family  (chap.  xxiv).  But 
from  the  earliest  Muslim  times  such  stories  were 

I  Chauvin,  Bihliographie  arabe,  Vol.  VI,  p.  48. 
a  Qur.  xvi,  74;   xl,  9. 

3  Young,  Corps  de  droit  Ottoman,  Vol.  II,  pp.  210,  215. 

4  Arabian  Nights,  Vol.  I,  chap,  i,  note  25. 


144    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

current,  and  had  become  a  lieu  commune  in  romance. 
The  book  called  Al-Fihrist,  a  catalogue  raisonne  of 
Arabic  literature  of  about  looo  A.  D.,  gives  a  separate 
section  to  ''Names  of  Those  of  Mankind  Who 
Loved  the  Jinn  and  Vice-versa."  It  is  really  sixteen 
titles  of  books  of  their  love  stories.  Similarly,  in  the 
numerous  collections  of  love  stories  there  are  chap- 
ters given  to  "Lovers  of  the  Jinn." 

Another  fertile  aspect  of  this  subject  is  the  relation 
between  saints  and  the  Jinn.  As  Muslim  saints  live 
more  or  less  in  contact  with  the  unseen  world  all  the 
time,  that  relation  of  necessity  is  close.  Of  course, 
we  must  distinguish  between  necessarily  apocryphal 
stories  and  those  which  have  vraisemhlance,  at  least; 
although  both,  for  our  purpose,  are  of  value.  A 
story  with  every  appearance  of  truth  is  that  which 
al-Ghazzali  tells  of  his  own  attempt  at  spirit-seeing. 
I  may  say  of  him  that  one  of  his  characteristics  is 
extreme  modesty  in  his  claims  to  contact  with  the 
Unseen.  He  had  visions  of  insight  into  spiritual 
truth,  but  he  never  felt  that  he  had  reached  the  same 
degree  of  closeness  to  the  divine  as  some  of  his  con- 
temporaries, and  he  always  declared  that  he  had 
never  been  able  to  work  miracles.  This  story,  then, 
bears  these  characteristic  marks  of  modesty.  He 
applied  to  a  celebrated  evoker  of  the  Jinn,  Muham- 
mad ibn  Ahmad  at-TabasI — an  older  contemporary 
of  his  own,  who  died  in  A.  h.  482,  when  al-Ghazzall 
was  thirty-two   years  of   age — requesting   that  he 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       I45 

would  bring  about  a  meeting  between  himself  and 
some  of  the  Jinn.  To  that  he  consented,  and  al- 
Ghazzali  says,  "  I  saw  them  like  a  shadow  on  a  wall. 
Then  I  said  to  him  that  I  would  like  to  talk  with 
them  and  hear  their  speech,  but  he  said,  'You  are 
not  able  to  see  more  of  them  than  this.'  '"  Not  a 
very  satisfactory  case,  except  as  showing  al-Ghazzali's 
truthfulness.  The  magician,  apparently,  had  made 
only  so  much  preparation. 

Another  very  different  story,  a  legend  with  large 
elements  of  folk-lore  in  it,  is  told  of  ^Abd  al-Qadir 
al-Jilanl  who  died  in  1166,  a.  d.,  the  founder  of  the 
Qadirite  fraternity  of  darwishes.  Around  him  an 
immense  accumulation  of  myth  has  collected,  and  to 
that  the  following  evidently  belongs.  I  do  not  mean 
to  suggest  that  all  the  marvels  of  ^Abd  al-Qadir's 
life  are  necessarily  mythical.  The  levitations,  for 
example,  told  of  him  have  far  too  many  analogues 
elsewhere  to  be  ruled  so  easily  out  of  court.  The 
story  runs  thus: 

One  of  the  people  of  Baghdad  came  to  him  and  told  him 
that  a  maiden  daughter  of  his  had  been  snatched  away  from 
the  roof  of  the  house.  "Go,"  said  the  shaykh,  ''this  night 
to  the  ruined  part  of  al-Karkh  [a  district  of  Baghdad]  and  sit 
beside  the  fifth  mound  and  draw  a  circle  on  the  ground  and 
say,  as  thou  drawest  it,  'In  the  name  of  Allah;  according 
to  the  intention  of  ^Abd  al-Qadir.'  "  [I  presume  he  meant,  as 
though  ^Abd  al-Qadir  had  drawn  this  line.]  "Then,  when 
the  black  of  the  night  has  come,  there  will  pass  by  thee  troops 

I  Al-Qazwini,  Vol.  II,  p.  272,  (Wlistenf eld's  edition). 


146    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

of  the  Jinn  in  different  forms,  but  let  not  their  appearance 
terrify  thee.  And  when  the  dawn  comes,  there  will  pass  by 
thee  their  king  in  an  army  of  them.  He  will  ask  thee  of  thy 
need;  so  say,  *Abd  al-Qadir  hath  sent  me  to  thee,'  and  tell 
him  the  case  of  thy  daughter."  The  man  did  so.  "It  was" 
he  told  thereafter,  "as  the  shaykh  had  said.  Not  one  of  the 
Jinn  was  able  to  pass  the  circle  in  which  I  was.  They  kept 
going  by  in  bands,  until  their  king  came,  riding  on  a  horse,  and 
before  him  [whole]  nations  of  them.  He  stopped  over  against 
the  circle  and  said,  '  O  human  being,  what  is  thy  need  ? ' 
I  said,  'The  shaykh,  ^Abd  al-Qadir,  hath  sent  me  to  thee.' 
Then  he  alighted  from  his  horse  and  kissed  the  ground  and 
sat  just  outside  of  the  circle;  and  those  sat  who  were  with  him. 
Then  he  said,  'What  is  thy  affair?'  and  I  told  him  the  story 
of  my  daughter.  He  said  to  those  around  him,  'Bring  me 
him  who  hath  done  this ! '  and  they  brought  an  evil  Jinni  and 
my  daughter  with  him.  He  was  told,  '  This  is  one  of  the  evil 
Jinn  of  China.'  Then  he  said,  'What  led  thee  to  snatch  one 
away  from  under  the  stirrups  of  the  Qutb  [the  chief  of  all  the 
saints  of  Allah]  ?'  'She  pleased  me,'  said  the  evil  Jinni.  So 
he  gave  orders,  and  the  head  of  the  evil  Jinni  was  struck  off, 
and  he  gave  me  back  my  daughter."^ 

This,  you  will  observe,  is  exactly  the  same  as  the 
nocturnal  procession  of  the  demons  with  Pluto,  their 
king,  which  we  meet  in  European  folk-lore.  The 
part  of  the  magician  is  taken  by  the  head,  for  the 
time,  of  all  the  saints  of  Allah.  Ex  officio,  he  has 
absolute  control  over  the  Jinn. 

Around  Ibn  ^Arabi,  another  great  saint  and  mystic 
of  later  times,  who  died  in  1240  A.  d.,  similar  tales 
have  gathered.     He  wrote  an  account  of  all  who  had 

I  Damiri,  Vol.  I,  p.  185,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  h.  13 13. 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       147 

been  his  teachers,  of  the  Jinn  and  mankind  and 
angels  and  beasts.  In  that  account  he  tells  the 
following  story  as  a  rebuke  of  his  pride;  it  is  evi- 
dently told  in  earnest,  though  it  may  seem  rather 
humorous  to  us.  One  time  he  was  in  a  ship  on  the 
great  sea.  The  wind  blew,  and  a  storm  arose. 
But  he  cried  out  to  the  sea,  ''Be  still,  for  a  sea  of 
learning  is  upon  thee!"  Then  a  sea  monster  raised 
its  head  and  said  to  him,  "We  have  heard  thy  saying. 
What  do  you  say  to  this  case  of  law  ?  If  the  hus- 
band of  a  wife  be  ensorcelled  and  transformed,  must 
she  wait,  before  remarrying,  the  period  of  a  widow, 
or  of  a  divorced  woman  [literally  the  waiting  period 
of  the  dead  or  of  the  living]?"  But  Ibn  "^Arabi, 
for  all  that  he  was  a  sea  of  learning,  could  not  tell. 
So  the  sea-monster  said,  "Make  me  one  of  thy 
teachers,  and  I  will  tell  thee."  Ibn  ^Arabi  accepted, 
and  the  sea-monster  said,  "If  he  is  transformed 
into  a  beast,  then  she  must  wait  the  period  of 
a  divorced  woman;  and  if  into  a  stone,  that  of  a 
widow."  ^ 

But  an  evident  jest  is  the  following.  A  certain 
shaykh  had  been  asked  about  Ibn  <=Arabi.  He 
replied  with  emphasis,  "An  evil  shaykh,  a  liar!" 
"  A  liar,  too  ?  "  someone  said  to  him.  "  Yes,  indeed," 
he  said.  "We  were  discussing,  once,  marriage  with 
the  Jinn,  and  he  said,  '  The  Jinn  are  fine  spirits  and 
mankind  are  coarse  bodies;    how  can  they  come 

I  Sha<=rani,  Lawdqih,  p.  284,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  h.  1308. 


148    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

together  ? '  Then  he  was  away  from  us  for  a  time, 
and  came  back  with  a  bruise  on  his  head.  We  asked 
him  whence  it  was.  He  said,  '  I  married  a  woman 
of  the  Jinn,  and  we  had  some  trouble,  and  she  hit 
me  this  bruise!'  "  The  original  teller  of  the  story 
adds,  ''I  don't  think  this  was  a  deliberate  lie  on  Ibn 
•^Arabl's  part;  it  was  simply  one  of  the  jesting  stories 
current  among  those  of  the  spiritual  Hfe.'" 

Another  saint  who  had  large  dealings  with  the 
Jinn  was  ash-Sha^rani,  a  Cairene  mystic,  who  died 
in  1565.  He  was  a  very  remarkable  man,  and  a 
union  of  the  most  opposite  characteristics.  He  was 
a  canon  lawyer  of  originality  and  keenness;  one  of 
the  very  few  creative  minds  in  law  after  the  first 
three  centuries.  He  was  a  moralist,  touched  with 
high  ethical  indignation.  Unlike  most  of  the  learned 
of  Islam,  he  sought  and  found  his  own  among  the 
oppressed  common  people.  He  was  a  mystic  who 
lived  from  day  to  day  in  constant  touch  with  the 
Unseen ;  the  spirit  world  was  as  near  and  real  to  him 
as  the  walls  of  the  classroom  in  which  he  taught,  or 
of  the  mosque  in  which  he  worshiped.  In  the  night 
time,  there  came  dreams  to  him,  or  else,  when  he 
waked,  a  voice  would  sound  in  his  ears;  a  hatij,  as 
they  called  such  wandering  utterances,  would  warn 
or  admonish  him.  Of  these  the  records  of  Islam 
are  full,  but  in  no  case  so  full  as  in  his.  Naturally, 
intercourse  with  the  Jinn  was  not  lacking.     They 

I  Damiri,  Vol.  I,  p.  185.  ~ 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       149 

used  to  seek  his  judgment,  as  a  jurisconsult  of 
standing.  Once  a  Jinni  in  the  form  of  a  dog  ran  in 
at  his  house  door  with  a  piece  of  European  paper  in 
his  mouth,  on  which  certain  theological  questions 
were  written.  Ash-Sha^rani  replied  by  writing  a 
book,  still  extant,  on  them. 

It  should  be  understood,  then,  that  just  as  among 
men  there  are  ascetics  and  devotees,  so,  too,  among 
the  Jinn.  In  deserts  and  solitary  places,  men  have 
often  heard  their  voices  in  pious  exclamation  or 
prayer;  of  such  the  records  of  the  saints  are  full. 
And  just  as  they  taught  men,  so  men  taught  them. 
The  great  shaykhs  had  disciples  of  the  Jinn  as  of 
mankind.  Here  is  something  upon  that,  from  a 
most  valuable  and  interesting  book,  consisting  of 
translations  of  passages  from  the  lives  of  the  great 
saints  of  Morocco  -J 

'T  once  happened  upon  the  shaikh  Aboo^l  Hasan,"  he 
[shaikh  Muhammad  the  Andalusee]  said,  "and  he  was  sitting 
in  the  midst  of  a  plantation,  of  which  he  was  the  owner,  and 
around  him  sat  a  company  of  the  Jinn  who  believed,  to  whom 
he  was  teaching  the  beautiful  names  of  God. 

"On  seeing  me,  he  looked  up  and  asked:  'Has  the  matter 
concerning  these  been  revealed  to  thee?' 

*T  replied  that  it  had  been  revealed.  'These,'  he  went  on, 
*are  in  search  of  that  which  thou  art  in  search  of — meaning 
that  they,  too,  were  seekers  after  the  Truth." 

Andalusee  used  also  to  say:  "There  was  not  in  all  Morocco, 
nor  in  any  part  of  it,  neither  in  any  land,  the  like  of  the  shaikh 

I  T.  H.  Weir,  The  Shaikhs  of  Morocco,  p.  121.  Mr.  Weir's 
method  of  representing  Arabic  words  in  English  is  preserved  here. 


I50    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Aboo^l  Hasan,  the  son  of  Aboo^l  Kasim  in  his  time.  He  had 
as  followers  upward  of  seventy  thousand  of  the  jinn;  and 
when  he  died,  they  were  scattered  into  all  quarters  of  the 
earth,  but  none  of  them  ever  found  again  a  teacher  like  him." 
"I  had  made  friends  with  four  of  these  jinn,"  he  continued, 
''and  once  I  asked  one  of  the  four,  who  was  the  best-read  of 
all,  which  of  the  plants,  in  their  opinion,  afforded  the  most 
useful  drugs  for  the  purposes  of  medicine,  so  as  to  cure  all 
maladies.  'There  is  not  one  among  all  plants,'  replied  the 
jinnee,  'more  generally  useful  than  the  caper;  for  it  unites 
in  itself  qualities  which  are  found  only  separate  in  other 
plants;  and  if  the  men-folk  but  knew  all  that  is  in  it,  they 
would  not  wish  for  any  other.'  "^ 

But  to  all,  this  matter  was  not  so  simple.  The 
Jinn  might  be  spoken  of  in  the  Qur^dn,  and  many 
might  have  seen  them  and  had  speech  with  them, 
but  others  had  no  such  good  fortunes.  Al-Ghazzali, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  but  indifferent  success  in  his 
attempt  to  reach  them,  and  Ibn  Khaldun  seems  to 
have  had  none  at  all.  These,  however,  were  believ- 
ing men,  and  either  accepted  the  traditions  and  the 
testimony  of  others,  or  held  their  p]ace.  But  there 
were  some  who  were  no  great  believers,  and  who  had 
to  settle  the  existence  of  the  Jinn  on  other  than 
religious  grounds.  Many  of  the  Mu^tazilites  seem 
in  general  to  have  rejected  them;  how  these  dealt 
with  the  qur^anic  passages  I  do  not  know.  They 
must  have  explained  them  away  in  some  fashion,  as 

^  Compare  the  folk-lore  stories  of  fairy  changelings  and  the 
like  who  would  say,  "If  men  but  knew  the  value  of  this  or  that" 
(some  despised  thing). 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN      151 

they  were  only  heretics  and  not  unbelievers.  It  is 
certain  that  they  were  of  varying  opinions  on  the 
matter. 

But  the  philosophers  were  in  different  case.  Al- 
Farabi,  who  died  in  950,  was  a  Plotinian  and  an 
Aristotelian,  but  managed,  being  also  a  mystic,  to 
remain  a  devout  MusHm.  His  only  trouble,  then, 
was  to  discover  a  philosophical  definition,  and  so 
get  them  into  his  system.  The  ordinary  definition 
was,  "Airy  bodies  capable  of  assuming  different 
forms,  possessed  of  reason  and  understanding,  and 
able  to  perform  hard  labors."^  But  there  was  a 
doubt  on  the  point  of  reason  (^aql).  For  example, 
in  the  ''Story  of  the  Fisherman  and  the  Jinni,"  in 
the  Arabian  Nights,  the  fisherman  says  to  himself 
in  some  texts, ^  "This  is  a  Jinni,  and  I  am  a  human 
being,  and  Allah  has  given  to  me  reason  and  made 
me  more  excellent  than  him,  and  lo!  I  contrive 
against  him  with  my  reason,  and  he  contrives  against 
me  with  his  Jinn-mind  (bi-jinnihi?).^^ 

This  distinction  al-Farabi  laid  hold  of,  and  he  con- 
structed the  following  definitions:  Man  is  a  living 
being,  rational,  mortal;  the  angels  are  the  same, 
rational,  immortal;  brute  beasts  the  same,  irrational, 
mortal;  the  Jinn,  then,  to  fill  out  the  analogy,  are 
living  beings,  irrational,  immortal.  But  the  QuPdn 
speaks  of  them  as  hearing  and  speaking;  must  they 

1  Damiri,  Vol.  I,  p.  177. 

2  Galland;    Breslau;    I  Calcutta. 


152    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

not,  then,  be  rational?  Al-FarabI  denies  that. 
Speech  and  verbal  utterance  may  be  found  in  any 
living  being,  qua  living  being ;  they  are  different  from 
that  power  of  distinguishing,  which  is  reason.  The 
speech  of  man  is  natural  to  him,  qua  living  being; 
but  his  speech  is  different  from  that  of  other  kinds  of 
living  beings;  each  kind  has  its  own  speech.  He 
might  further  have  defended  himself  with  the  popu- 
lar belief  that  the  speech  of  the  Jinn  is  a  kind  of 
whistling;  that  is  why  it  is  unlucky  to  whistle  in  the 
Muhammadan  East.  But  the  truth  evidently  is  that 
he  was  simply  hard  pressed.'  His  argument  from 
classification  is  of  a  type  common  in  Arabic  and  is 
based  essentially  on  a  realistic  philosophy. 

Avicenna  (died  1037)  avoided  such  subjects  as  far 
as  he  could,  but  his  system  had  certainly  no  place 
for  the  Jinn.  Yet  once,  in  giving  a  series  of  defini- 
tions of  things,  he  defined  "Jinn,"  "Airy  animals 
capable  of  changing  themselves  into  different  forms," 
but  added,  "This  is  an  explanation  of  the  name 
(or  noun),"  meaning  evidently  that  the  thing  had  no 
real  existence;  he,  in  this,  was  a  nominalist.^ 

Farther  with  the  philosophers  we  need  not  go; 
they  practically  had  no  effect  on  the  views  of  the  vast 
body  of  Muslims.  Islam  believes  to  this  day  in  the 
Jinn  not  only  among  the  vulgar  but  as  an  essential 
part  of  the  faith.     In  the  Azhar  University  at  Cairo, 

I  Dieterici,  Aljarabi's  philos.  Ahhandl.  herausg.,  p.  84. 
a  Razi,  Majatlh  al-ghayb,  Sura  Ixxii,  beginning. 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       I53 

the  legal  textbooks  still  consider  the  vexed  question 

of  the  marriage  of  men  and  Jinn;   e.  g.,  al-Bajuri's 

great  commentary  on  Ibn  Qasim's  commentary  on 

Abu  Shuja's  handbook  of   Shafi'^ite   law,   Vol.   II, 

pp.  113,  186,  187.     We  have  already  seen  the  same 

in  the  Ottoman  code.     So,  too,  is  Lane's  testimony 

for  modern  Cairo.     Professor  E.  G.  Browne,  in  his 

Year  among  the  Persians,  has  a  curious  narrative 

of  a  friend  of  his,  a  certain  unbelieving  philosopher 

of  Ispahan,  who  had  twice  gone  through  the  training 

incumbent  upon  those  who  wish  to  gain  control 

over  the  Jinn: 

The  seeker  after  this  power  [said  he]  chooses  some  soHtary 
and  dismal  spot,  such  as  the  Hazdr-Dere  at  Isfahan  (the  place 
selected  by  me).  There  he  must  remain  for  forty  days, 
which  period  of  retirement  we  call  chilli.  He  spends  the 
greater  part  of  this  time  in  incantations  in  the  Arabic  language, 
which  he  recites  within  the  area  of  the  mandal,  or  geometric 
figure,  which  he  must  describe  in  a  certain  way  on  the  ground. 
Besides  this,  he  must  eat  very  little  food,  and  diminish  the 
amount  daily.  If  he  has  faithfully  observed  all  these  details, 
on  the  twenty-first  day  a  lion  will  appear,  and  will  enter  the 
magic  circle.  The  operator  must  not  allow  himself  to  be 
terrified  by  this  apparition,  and,  above  all,  must  on  no  account 
quit  the  mandal,  else  he  will  lose  the  result  of  all  his  pains. 
If  he  resists  the  lion,  other  terrible  forms  will  come  to  him  on 
subsequent  days — tigers,  dragons,  and  the  like — which  he 
must  similarly  withstand.  If  he  holds  his  ground  till  the 
fortieth  day,  he  has  attained  his  object,  and  the  jinnis,  having 
been  unable  to  get  the  mastery  over  him,  will  have  to  become 
his  servants  and  obey  all  his  behests.  Well,  I  faithfully 
observed  all  the  necessary  conditions,  and  on  the  twenty- 


154    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

j&rst  day,  sure  enough,  a  lion  appeared  and  entered  the  circle. 
I  was  horribly  frightened,  but  all  the  same  I  stood  my  ground, 
although  I  came  near  to  fainting  with  terror.  Next  day,  a 
tiger  came,  and  still  I  succeeded  in  resisting  the  impulse  which 
urged  me  to  flee.  But  when,  on  the  following  day,  a  most 
hideous  and  frightful  dragon  appeared,  I  could  no  longer 
control  my  terror,  and  rushed  from  the  circle,  renouncing 
all  further  attempts  at  obtaining  the  mastery  over  the  jinnis. 
When  some  time  had  elapsed  after  this,  and  I  had  pursued 
my  studies  in  philosophy  further,  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  I  had  been  the  victim  of  hallucinations,  excited  by 
expectation,  solitude,  hunger,  and  long  vigils,  and,  with  a 
view  to  testing  this  hypothesis,  I  again  repeated  the  same  pro- 
cess which  I  had  before  practiced,  this  time  in  a  spirit  of 
philosophical  incredulity.  My  expectations  were  justified; 
I  saw  absolutely  nothing.  And  there  is  another  fact  which 
proves  to  my  mind  that  the  phantoms  I  saw  on  the  first 
occasion  had  no  existence  outside  of  my  own  brain.  I  had 
never  seen  a  real  lion  then,  and  my  ideas  about  the  appearance 
of  that  animal  were  entirely  derived  from  the  pictures  which, 
may  be  seen  over  the  doors  of  baths  in  this  country.  Now 
the  lion  which  I  saw  in  the  magic  circle  was  exactly  like  the 
latter  in  form  and  coloring,  and,  therefore,  as  I  need  hardly 
say,  differed  considerably  in  aspect  from  a  real  lion. 

So  far  this  philosopher  of  Isfahan,  as  reported 
by  Professor  Browne.  But  you  already  know,  from 
Ibn  Khaldun  and  al-Ghazzall,  that  the  spectres  which 
appear  to  the  would-be  magician  must  be  forms  that 
he  already  knows.  They  are  ideas — true  ideas — 
which  his  memory  and  imagination  clothe  in  corre- 
sponding appearances.  Thus  the  idea  "lion "  would 
necessarily  assume  the  form  of  a  bath-house  picture 
lion. 


INTERCOURSE  THROUGH  THE  JINN       155 

The  most  remarkable  narrative  of  all,  however,  is 
given  by  Bayle  St.  John  in  his  Two  Years  in  a  Levan- 
tine Family  (chap.  xx).  The  house  in  which  he 
lived  with  his  "family"  was  haunted  by  a  ghost, 
an  Hfrlt;  ghosts  now  are  called  H frits,  which  means 
strictly  an  evil  kind  of  Jinnl.  This  ghost  was  the 
spirit  of  a  deceased  previous  owner,  who  was  sup- 
posed to  have  buried  his  money  in  the  house,  and  in 
consequence  had  to  guard  it.  The  Levantine  family 
had  seen  him,  from  time  to  time  for  thirteen  years, 
and  now  took  no  notice  of  him.  He  never  meddled 
with  them,  and  they  had  become  accustomed  to  his 
prowling  about,  and  appearing  and  disappearing. 
Also,  he  had  always  the  same  appearance,  and  this 
had  often  been  described  to  St.  John.  Then  sud- 
denly, one  day,  in  broad  daylight,  he,  himself,  saw 
this  shaykh,  as  he  was  called,  with  perfect  clearness. 
Twice,  thereafter,  he  saw  him  again,  but  the  third 
appearance,  the  most  circumstantial,  is  invalidated 
as  evidence  by  occurring  during  an  attack  of  fever. 
It  is  curious  that  the  first  two  experiences  agree  pre- 
cisely in  type  with  the  cases  of  "haunting  ghosts" 
collected  by  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  and 
are  utterly  different  from  the  loquacious,  meddlesome 
ghosts  of  literature,  eastern  and  western.  For  these 
two  St.  John  could  find  no  explanation.  Nor  do  I 
think  will  you  be  able  to,  if  you  read  his  careful 
narrative.  I  can  make  only  one  suggestion.  It  is 
incredible  to  me  that  there  should  be  absolutely  no 


156    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

foundation  for  the  unbroken  belief  of  the  East  in  these 
spirits.  There  must  be  some  phenomena  behind  it. 
Is  it  possible  to  explain  it  as  a  result  of  auto-hyp- 
nosis— that  the  whole  people  are  more  or  less  under 
this  hypnotic  suggestion  ?  It  is  conceivable,  then, 
that  St.  John,  living  for  long  in  such  an  environment, 
would  come  at  last  under  the  same  suggestion.^ 
It  is  certain  that  Europeans  who  have  long  lived  in 
the  East,  and  adapted  themselves  to  eastern  ways, 
come  in  time  to  be  orientalized  in  their  attitudes 
and  ideas.  Sometimes,  this  reaches  a,  for  us,  dis- 
gusting point;  at  others,  it  is  only  the  possibihties 
of  the  unseen  world  which  are  marvelously  widened. 

I  Cf.  the  case  of  the  haunting  of  the  old  house  in  St.  Swithin's 
Lane,  London  {Proceedings  0}  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
Vol.  Ill,  pp.  126  ff.),  and  the  gradual  extension  of  the  hallucina- 
tion (veridical  or  otherwise)  to  Mr.  Votas-Simpson  himself. 


LECTURE  VI 

SAINTS  AND  THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE 

IN  ISLAM 

It  may  be  well  for  us  now  to  look  back  to  our 
starting-point,  see  how  far  we  have  come,  and  what 
journey  lies  still  before  us.  You  will  remember  that 
in  our  subject  —  the  religious  attitude  and  life^  as 
developed  in  Islam — I  found  three  essential  ele- 
ments; (i)  the  reality  of  the  Unseen,  as  a  background 
to  life  unattainable  to  our  physical  senses;  (2) 
man's  relation  to  this  Unseen,  as  to  faith  and  insight 
therein:  the  whole  emotional  religious  life;  (3)  the 
discipline  of  the  traveler  on  his  way  to  such  direct 
knowledge  of  the  divine  and  during  his  life  in  it. 

The  first  of  these,  the  tremendous  reality  and 
nearness  for  the  Muslim  of  the  unseen  world  must 
now  be  tolerably  clear  to  you.  You  will  have 
observed,  also,  the  different  processes  by  which  the 
Muslim  endeavors  to  construct  connections  between 
his  own  life  and  that  Unseen,  his  metaphysical 
scheme  in  the  exact  sense.  Of  necessity  that  will 
appear  to  you  very  unmetaphysical  in  the  ordinary 
sense,  full  of  bizarre  concretenesses  and  materialisms. 
But  that  hangs  from  the  nature  of  the  case.  I 
should  like  to  put  before  you  an  ontology  full  of  the 
most  beautiful  abstractions,  leaving  you  gasping  in 

^57 


158    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

an  over-rarified  atmosphere,  but  my  sources  will 
not  permit  it.  Even  the  Aristotelian  philoso- 
phers of  Islam  had  their  system  of  spheres,  with 
therein  dominating  intelligences;  it  was  left  for 
Occam  to  lay  down  the  final  law,  ''We  must  not 
multiply  beings  without  reason." 

But  among  these  pathways  to  the  Unseen,  I  have 
not  yet  put  formally  before  you  that  trodden  by  the 
saints,  by  those  men  who,  in  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
have  gained  immediate  vision  of  divine  things  and 
whose  lives,  in  consequence,  are  permeated  with  the 
divine  light  and  energy.  Allusion  has  been  made  to 
them,  again  and  again,  and  the  Muslim  conception 
of  them  as  a  class  is  already,  in  general  terms,  before 
you.  In  all  strictness  I  should  now  consider  the 
phenomena  of  sainthood  as  one  of  the  avenues 
of  approach  to  the  Unseen,  one  of  the  cracks  in  the 
shell,  before  passing  on  to  our  second  element,  the 
emotional  religious  life  in  general.  I  venture,  how- 
ever, to  combine  the  two,  and  will  now  take  up  the 
psychological-religious  element  of  man's  relation  to 
the  Unseen  as  to  faith  and  insight  therein. 

Practically,  we  come  now  to  an  investigation  of 
sainthood  as  practiced  in  Islam.  This  does  not 
limit  our  subject  as  the  word  saint  might  suggest. 
There  are  saints  of  all  degrees  in  Islam,  and  saintship 
is  not  the  rare  phenomenon  of  our  associations. 
Externally,  through  an  elaborate  hierarchy  rising  to  a 
single  spiritual  head,  and  internally,  through  a  multi- 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    159 

tude  of  brethren  of  varying  spiritual  illumination  and 
powers,  every  pious  Muslim  looks  up  a  path  to  God 
and  knows  his  place  in  it.  This  institution,  exter- 
nally and  internally,  as  an  organization  and  as  a  life, 
is  of  the  highest  interest  as  a  force  in  Islam;  but 
I  can  notice  it  now  only  most  inadequately.  Our 
subject,  in  strictness,  is  the  emotional  life  of  the 
individual. 

So  much,  at  least,  must  be  said.  From  the  earliest 
times  there  was  an  element  in  the  Muslim  church 
which  was  repelled  equally  by  traditional  teaching 
and  by  intellectual  reasoning.  It  felt  that  the 
essence  of  religion  lay  elsewhere;  that  the  seat  and 
organ  of  religion  was  in  the  heart.  In  process  of 
time,  all  Islam  became  permeated  with  this  concep- 
tion, in  different  degrees  and  various  forms.  More 
widely  than  ever  with  Christianity,  Islam  became  and 
is  a  mystical  faith.  All — the  simple  believers,  the  theo- 
logians of  the  schools,  the  philosophers — came  in  one 
form  or  another  to  the  essential  mystical  positions. 

The  varying,  of  course,  was  wide;  it  stretched 
from  absolute  Plotinian  pantheism — the  emission  of 
the  individuals  from  the  One,  and  their  vanishing 
again  into  the  One — through  various  phases  of  more 
or  less  disguised  pantheism  to  simple  acceptance 
of  life  in  God  and  of  God's  immanence  in  the  world. 
After  the  strangest  fashion,  the  absolute  contrast  of 
Allah  and  his  world — Allah  and  not-Allah — of  the 
Qur^dn  almost  entirely  vanished. 


l6o    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Then,  from  this  soil,  developed  the  conception 
of  saints  in  the  precise  sense,  favorites  of  God,  gifted 
by  him  with  illumination  and  wondrous  powers, 
accepted  and  heard  by  him,  and  therefore  to  be 
honored,  petitioned,  practically  worshiped  by  other 
men.  These  began  as  ascetics,  fleeing  from  the 
wrath  to  come;  developed  into  ecstatics,  reveling 
in  the  conception  of  the  love  for  and  of  God  which 
they  pictured  in  various  sensuous  ways;  and  often 
ended  as  antinomians  in  a  spiritual  life  above  the 
moral  law  and  ritual  duty.  The  worship  of  these, 
living  and  dead,  by  the  populace  has  gone  so  far  as 
to  bring  Islam,  with  certain  classes,  back  to  a  poly- 
theistic or,  at  least,  polydaemonistic  position.  Into 
the  exceedingly  interesting  details  of  this  I  cannot 
here  enter.  You  will  find  them  at  length  in  Dr. 
Goldziher's  Muhammedanische  Studien.^ 

But,  further,  there  was  a  tendency  for  schools  of 
disciples  to  gather  round  such  outstanding  figures,  ex- 
actly as  did  the  schools  of  the  prophets  in  the  Old 
Testament.  They  were  students  around  their  teacher, 
and  unfettered  by  any  vows  save  those  of  their  love 
and  devotion.  He  instructed  them  in  theology, 
initiated  them  into  the  specific  religious  life,  and 
guided  them  on  that  pathway.  They  did  not 
necessarily  remain  always  with  him.  They  might 
go  back  into  the  world  and  live  their  life  there.  And 
he  on  his  side  was  not  necessarily  a  cloistered  monk 

I  Vol.  II,  pp.  277-378. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    i6i 

or  a  solitary;  he  might  hold  what  we  would  call  a 
university  position  as  professor  of  theology  or  canon 
law. 

This  went  on  for  centuries.  Such  teaching  saints 
came  and  went,  and  with  their  deaths  their  circles 
of  disciples  broke  up.  The  unit  of  organization  was 
still  the  individual  teacher,  and  for  his  life  only. 
There  were  early,  it  is  true,  communities  of  begging 
friars  who  wandered  in  the  summer,  and  settled  in 
their  monasteries  in  the  winter,  and  were  tolerably 
continuous  of  organization;  but  these  had  not  yet 
come  to  call  themselves  by  any  name.  The  general 
words  describing  them  are  suggestive.  The  saints 
are  waits  {wait,  pi.  awliyd,  ''a  relative,"  "friend," 
"associate,"  "favorite,"  here  "of  God");  the  asce- 
tics were  saPihs,  "wanderers;"  rdhibs,  "fearers;" 
and  zdhids,  "ascetics."  Broadly,  they  were  all 
called  Sufis,  from  their  habit  of  wearing  wool,  suj. 
Their  exercises  are  called  dhikrs,  "rememberings," 
from  the  qur^^anic  injunction,  "Remember  Allah 
much,  and  praise  him  morning  and  evening,"' 

The  "remembering"  consists  in  the  repetition 
of  names  of  God  and  certain  formulas.'' 

1  Qur.  xxxiii,  41. 

2  For  these  see  Hughes,  Dictionary  0}  Islam,  p.  703,  and 
Lane,  Modern  Egyptians,  chap.  xxiv.  For  the  whole  early 
development  see  Goldziher,  "Materialien  zur  Entwickelungsge- 
schichte  des  Siifismus,"  Wiener  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Kunde  des 
Morgenlandes,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  35;  in  short,  also,  in  Macdonald, 
Development  0}  Muslim  Theology,  pp.  172-85. 


i62    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

But  in  the  course  of  the  twelfth  century,  these  asso- 
ciations of  personal  followers  and  pupils  began  to 
pass  into  self-perpetuating  corporations.  What  are 
now  known  as  fraternities  of  darwishes  were  fairly 
started.  Darwish  is  derived  from  a  Persian  word 
meaning  a  mendicant  ''seeking  doors,"  but  it  has 
come  to  be  applied  to  all  members  of  these  fra- 
ternities or  orders,  whether  they  are  begging  friars  or 
not.  The  strict  begging  friar  is  called  jaqlr,  in 
Arabic,  ''a  poor  man." 

Among  the  earliest  of  these  orders  appears  to  be 
that  of  the  Qadirites,  founded  either  by  the  ^Abd 
al-Qadir  al-jilani,  of  whom  I  have  already  given 
some  legends,  or  by  his  immediate  followers.  But 
the  number  soon  grew,  and  now  there  are  very  many 
of  these  brotherhoods  scattered  over  the  Muslim 
world.  Some  of  them  are  of  very  wide  spread. 
The  Qadirites,  for  example,  have  traveled  from  the 
region  of  Baghdad  as  far  as  northern  Africa,  and 
are  dominant  even  in  the  Fulani  Emirates  of  northern 
Nigeria.'  One  of  the  youngest  orders,  and  by  far 
the  most  fanatical,  the  Sanusites,  is  scattered  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Philippines. 

These  orders  are  independent  of  one  another  in 
government;  they  have  each  their  own  ritual  and 
mode  of  life;  they  differ  as  to  the  wonders  which 
they  perform  in  ecstasy;   their  theological  attitudes, 

I  Major  Alder  Burdon,  in  the  Geographical  Journal^  December, 
1904,  p.  650. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    163 

even,  are  different,  varying  as  to  the  strictness  of 
their  adherence  to  the  ritual  law  and  the  exactness 
of  their  acceptance  of  the  traditional  faith.  They 
constitute,  in  fact,  the  only  ecclesiastical  organization 
that  Islam  has  ever  had ;  but  a  multiform  organiza- 
tion, absolutely  un-unified,  either  internally  or 
externally.  Further,  each  of  the  orders  has  a  large 
number  of  adhering  lay  members,  who  are  in  exactly 
the  position  of  the  tertiaries  of  Christian  monasticism. 
Thus,  in  all  ranks  of  life  throughout  Islam,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  orders  is  active.  They  are  the  nearest 
approach  to  the  different  churches  of  Protestantism, 
just  as  there  are  striking  parallels  between  their  meet- 
ings and  the  early  class-meetings  of  the  Methodists. 
But,  besides  these  great  separate  and  visible 
organizations,  there  is  one,  greater,  single,  and 
invisible.  This  is  the  Sufi  hierarchy.  At  its  head 
is  a  great  saint,  presumably  the  greatest  of  the  time, 
chosen  by  God  for  the  office,  and  given  miraculous 
power  above  all  others.  He  is  called  the  Qutb,  or 
Axis,  and  wanders,  often  invisible  and  always  un- 
known to  the  world,  through  the  lands,  performing 
the  duties  of  his  office.  From  him  the  hierarchy 
descends,  in  gradually  widening  numbers,  and  the 
whole  system  forms  a  saintly  board  of  administra-\ 
tion,  by  which  the  invisible  government  of  the  world  . 
is  carried  on.^ 

I  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians,  chap  x;  Lane,  Arabian  Nights, 
note  63  to  chap,  iii;  von  Kremer,  Herrschende  Ideen  d.  172; 
VoUers,  inZDMG.y  Vol.  XLIII,  p.  115- 


i64    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

It  may,  perhaps,  make  the  above  clearer  to 
contrast  these  orders  and  this  hierarchy  with  the 
monastic  orders  and  the  organization  of  the  Roman 
church.  At  every  point,  the  advantage  in  univer- 
saHty  and  freedom  is  on  the  side  of  Islam.  As  for  the 
hierarchy — I  assume  its  existence  and  reality  since 
our  subject  is  the  behefs  and  attitudes  of  Muslims — 
its  head  is  spiritual,  invisible,  and  in  immediate 
connection  with  Allah;  the  organization  as  a  whole 
is  free  from  the  bonds  of  locality,  the  things  of 
the  world,  and  the  entanglements  which  these  bring. 
The  whole,  one  may  say,  is  a  beautiful  dream. 
The  orders,  again,  are  independent  and  self -develop- 
ing. There  is  rivalry  between  them;  but  no  one 
rules  over  the  other.  In  faith  and  practice  each 
goes  its  own  way,  limited  only  by  the  universal 
conscience  of  Islam.  Thus  strange  doctrines  and 
grave  moral  defects  easily  develop  unheeded;  but 
freedom  is  saved.  As  to  universality,  the  whole 
MusHm  people  is  reached  and  may  be  gathered  in. 
The  system  of  tertiaries,  adherents,  living  in  the 
world  but  bound  to  certain  religious  usages,  which 
the  Franciscans  first  introduced  into  Christendom 
and  the  Dominicans  adopted,  is  of  the  widest  and 
earliest  extension  in  Islam.  On  this  side  the  Muslim 
fraternities  might  be  said  to  resemble  the  lodges  of 
freemasons  or  other  friendly  societies.  Further,  all 
that  is  said  here  of  men  holds  of  women  as  well, 
down  to  the  present  day,  even,  as  regards  lay  mem- 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    165 

bership.  There  always  have  been,  and  still  are, 
women  saints  in  Islam.  The  distinction  of  Roman 
Christendom,  that  a  woman  cannot  be  a  priest  does 
not  exist  for  Islam,  as  there  is  neither  priest  nor 
layman  there.  All  the  Arabic  terms,  then,  which 
I  gave  above  for  ascetics,  mendicants,  etc.,  can  be 
put  in  the  feminine,  and  the  mode  of  life  and  exer- 
cises of  the  man  can  be  predicated  of  women  as  well. 
Finally,  for  all  these  fraternities,  a  standard  book 
of  reference  is  Depont  and  Cappolani's  Conjreries 
religieuses  Musulmanes,  Algiers,  1897. 

But  how  did  this  movement  and  this  development 
present  itself  to  the  Muslims  themselves  ?  That  is 
the  point  of  nearer  interest  to  us.  Again  I  take  Ibn 
Khaldun  as  representing  very  fairly  the  resultant 
attitude  of  Islam  in  the  broad  toward  the  Sufis. 
He  has  not  treated  the  fraternities  so  far  as  I  can 
find;  in  his  time  they,  apparently,  were  not  of  out- 
standing importance.  The  following,  then,  is  an 
abstract  of  his  section^  on  the  Sufis.  Their  science 
is  one  of  the  religious  sciences  which  arose  in  the 
MusHm  community.  From  the  very  beginning  the 
method  of  the  Sufis  was  followed  by  the  most  emi- 
nent of  the  Companions  and  their  immediate  suc- 
cessors, as  a  means  of  reaching  truth  and  guidance. 
So,  I  may  throw  in,  dictionaries  of  Sufi  biography 
begin  with  the  ten  to  whom  Muhammad  personally 

I  Beyrout  edition,  p.  467;  Bulaq,  p.  390;    de  Slane's  translation, 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  85;  there  are  large  additions  in  de  Slane. 


i66    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

promised  Paradise,  among  them  being  the  first  four 
khalifas,  the  "rightly  guided."  The  original  form 
of  the  method  consisted  in  (i)  persistence  in  acts  of 
worship;  (2)  living  uniquely  for  God;  (3)  turning 
away  from  the  adornments  of  the  world;  (4)  absti- 
nence from  the  objects  of  the  masses,  such  as  pleas- 
ure, wealth,  ambition;  (5)  separation  from  mankind 
in  solitude  for  worship.  All  that,  says  Ibn  Khal 
dun,  following  the  pious  historical  fiction  which  had 
grown  up,  was  general  among  the  Companions  and 
the  early  believers. 

But  in  the  second  century,  and  thereafter,  people 
turned  to  the  world,  and  stooped  to  be  mixed  with 
it.  Then,  those  who  turned,  rather,  to  worship,  came 
to  stand  by  themselves  and  were  called,  in  distinction, 
Sufis.  The  derivation  of  this  name  he  gives,  as  I 
have  already  done,  as  from  suf,  wool;  they  wore 
woolen  garments,  in  contrast  to  the  splendid  array 
of  the  non-Sufis.'  But  their  turning  to  the  devo- 
tional life  and  separating  themselves  from  the  mass 
of  the  people  had  spiritual  consequences.  Man  has 
perceptions,  either  external  or  internal;  the  latter 
are  of  his  own  states  of  joy,  sorrow,  hope,  fear,  etc. 
The  intelligent  spirit  which  rules  the  body  grows 
through  [reflective]  perceptions,  acts  of  will  and 
states,  so  consciousness  is  traditionally  divided  into 
knowing,  feeling,  and  willing;  by  these  man  is 
distinguished  from  the  other  animals.     They  pro- 

I  Cf.  Noldeke,  in  ZDMG.,  Vol.  XLVIII,  p.  45. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    167 

ceed,  one  from  the  other;  knowledge  from  proofs, 
and  joy  or  sorrow  from  the  painful  or  the  pleasant 
perception.  So,  when  the  Sufi  neophyte  applies 
himself  to  his  religious  exercises,  states'  (feelings) 
result  in  him,  of  one  kind  or  another,  and  of  greater 
or  less  fixity.  He  goes  up  then,  as  on  a  ladder, 
trading  his  dead  selves  under  him,  until  he  arrives 
at  that  immediate  knowledge  of  the  divine  unity 
which  is  his  object.  He  must  needs  mount  up 
through  these  degrees,  whose  beginning  is  obedience 
and  purity,  and  which  faith  introduces  and  accom- 
panies. He  may  be  sure  that  if  there  are  any  breaks 
in  his  progress,  it  is  because  he  has  fallen  short  in 
some  way  before  that.  He  must,  therefore,  cau- 
tiously take  account  with  himself  as  to  what  he  does 
and  does  not,  and  be  on  his  guard  against  heedless- 
ness. The  method,  then,  is  this  examination  of  the 
soul,  and  a  discussion  of  the  tastes  of  bliss  and  the 
ecstasies  which  result  from  its  effects.  Further,  there 
are  certain  usages  and  technical  terms  peculiar  to 
the  Sufis,  and  not  used  by  the  mass  of  the  people. 

When,  then,  the  time  came  that  the  different  re- 
ligious sciences  were  reduced  to  writing,  and  were  no 
longer  simply  carried  in  the  memories,  on  this  science 
also  books  were  written.  Thus,  from  being  a  prac- 
tice only,  it  became,  in  the  exact  sense,  a  science. 

But,  again,  by  means  of  these  exercises  and  ecsta- 
sies, the  veil  of  sense  is  often  rent  and  the  upper 

I  For  the  meaning  of  "states"  cf.  p.  188. 


1 68    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

spiritual  regions  are  directly  perceived.  The  soul 
belongs  to  these  worlds,  and  is  thus  enabled  to  reach 
a  state  where  it  beholds  them,  and  does  not  simply 
know  about  them.  This  is  absolute  perception,  and 
in  this  state  the  soul  receives  various  divine  gifts  and 
favors  from  God  directly,  So  Sufis  come  to  know 
the  real  nature  of  things,  and  future  events  are  un- 
sealed to  them,  and,  through  their  zeal  and  the  forces 
of  their  souls,  they  can  affect  the  things  of  this  lower 
world.  Yet  the  more  they  advance,  the  less  atten- 
tion they  pay  to  such  matters,  and  they  finally  reckon 
them  as  temptations  and  lower  manifestations. 

In  later  times  there  arose  a  party  which  turned 
more  and  more  attention  to  this  rending  of  the  veil 
of  sense.  They  had  different  methods  of  bringing 
it  about,  but  they  so  disciplined  the  body  and  nour- 
ished the  soul  that  it  could  exercise  freely  and  fully 
its  essential  faculty  of  perception.  They  maintained, 
then,  that  all  existence  in  its  real  essence  could  be 
perceived  by  it,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  But 
the  soul  must  be  directed  by  uprightness,  otherwise 
its  perceptions  would  be  distorted,  as  in  a  convex  or 
concave  mirror,  like  those  of  magicians.  Christians, 
etc.^  Apparently  the  meaning  is  that  by  fasting  and 
solitude  anyone's  soul  could  be  enabled  to  see  the 
spiritual  world,  but  only  the  upright  soul  would  see 
it  perfectly. 

I  The     Christian     editors     of     the     Beyrout     edition     omit 
"Christians"    here. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    169 

Then  these  Sufis  passed  from  regarding  their 
method  as  a  discipline  of  the  soul,  to  treating  it  as 
a  means  of  reaching  a  knowledge  of  the  true  nature 
of  things.  That  is,  from  being  psychological  and 
ethical,  it  becomes  metaphysical.  In  a  later  edition 
of  his  book'  Ibn  Khaldun  inserted  at  this  point  a 
long  passage  upon  this,  and  especially  upon  the 
relation  of  God  to  his  creatures.  It  is  much  more 
theological  than  psychological,  so  I  shall  give  little 
of  it  here.  The  traditional  attitude,  that  of  the 
fathers,  was  that  God  and  his  creation  were  abso- 
lutely separate.  That,  of  course,  introduced  logical 
difficulties,  and  the  scholastic  theologians  came  in 
time  to  teach  that  God  was  neither  separate  from 
nor  joined  to  his  creation.  The  philosophers  held 
that  he  was  neither  outside  the  world,  nor  within  it; 
and  the  later  Sufis  that  he  was  identified  (muttahid) 
with  created  beings,  either  by  fusion  (hulul)  in 
them,  or  because  these  beings  were  he  himself,  and 
did  not  contain,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  anything 
except  him.  "Separation"  he  then  goes  on  to  dis- 
cuss in  its  two  aspects  of  separation  in  place  and 
separateness  as  to  essence,  individuality,  existence, 
attributes.  The  opposite  of  the  latter  is  unification 
{ittihdd).  This  last,  in  different  phases,  was  the  view 
of  many  Sufis. 

Some   of   these   explain — ^but   their  explanation, 
according  to  Ibn  Khaldun,  is  obscure  to  a  degree, 

I  De  Slane's  translation,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  93. 


lyo    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

and  the  matter  evidently  cannot  be  expressed  in 
ordinary  language — that  all  things  are  appearances, 
which  emanate  in  a  certain  order  from  God.  They 
go  back  to  a  saying  of  Allah's  which  they  allege, 
"  I  was  a  concealed  treasure,  and  I  desired  that  I 
might  be  known;  so  I  created  the  creatures  that 
they  might  know  me."  The  scheme  is  evidently 
one  of  Plotinian  emanation,  beginning  with  the 
realities  in  the  world  of  ideas,  and  these  gradually 
realizing  themselves  as  the  spheres,  and  so  down 
to  the  elemental  world  when  they  become  individuals 
and  appearances.  This  is  called  the  "  self-revealing  " 
(tajalla)  of  Allah,  and  is  only  really  intelligible 
through  the  mystical  contemplation,  which  sees  all 
things  in  God,  as  it  sees  God  in  all  things.^ 

But  another  school  of  Sufis  laid  weight  on  the 
idea  of  absolute  unity.  The  multiplicity  which  we 
see  around  us  springs  from  man's  multiple  senses. 
Just  as  there  would  be  no  color  if  there  were  no 
light,  so  the  existence  of  all  perceptible  things  depends 
on  the  existence  of  senses  perceiving  them,  that  is 
of  percipient  beings.  This,  you  will  observe,  is 
exactly  Berkeley's  position,  that  the  esse  of  a  thing 
is  its  percipi.  Eliminate,  then,  all  perceptions  and 
all  beings  return  to  one  unity.  That  is  God,  who 
is  spread  through  all  beings  and  unites  them  without 
direction  or  appearance  or  form  or  substance.     To 

I  Cf.  the  article  on  ^Abd  al-Razzak  in  the  Encyclopaedia  of 
Isldm^  Vol.  I,  pp.  6i  ff. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    171 

this  theory,  Ibn  Khaldun  makes  some  ''common- 
sense"  objections,  but  finally  urges  that  according  to 
the  Sufis  themselves  the  mystical  perception  of  the 
unity  is  only  a  stage.  The  neophyte  must  pass 
through  this;  and  to  go  beyond  it  is  hard ;  but  when 
he  does,  he  comes  to  a  farther  stage  where  he  can 
again  distinguish  between  beings,  and  finds  them  no 
longer  swallowed  in  oneness. 

But  these  conceptions  have  undoubtedly  had 
great  influence.  So,  too,  has  the  Isma^lite  and 
ShFite  belief  that  there  is  at  all  times  in  this  world 
some  representative  of  God,  whose  right  it  is  to 
rule,  teach,  and  guide  his  people.  To  this  Ibn 
Khaldun  traces  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  hierarchy  of  saints,  from  the  Axis  down,  which 
I  have  already  described;  but  as  a  good  Sunnite, 
he,  of  course,  rejects  the  Shi^ite  view.  All  of  it  is 
comparatively  recent;  he  cannot  find  that  it  was 
professed  by  the  older  Sufis. 

Ibn  Khaldun  finally  divides  the  general  Sufi  posi- 
tion under  four  heads:  (i)  the  discipline  of  the 
soul;  the  keeping  it  to  strict  account  for  actions; 
the  tastes  of  bliss  and  the  ecstasies  which  come  upon 
it;  its  ascent  from  one  spiritual  stage  to  another; 
(2)  the  unveiling  of  the  unseen  world  and  the  per- 
ception therein  of  spiritual  things,  of  the  real  natures 
of  things,  and  how  they  proceed  thence;  (3)  control 
of  material  things  by  the  grace  of  God;  (4)  those 
wild,  fanciful  expressions  which  many  of  them  utter 


172    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

in  ecstasy,  the  literal  meaning  of  which  gives  no 
clue  to  the  real  meaning. 

To  the  first,  the  discipline  of  the  soul,  no  one  can 
take  the  slightest  objection.     That  way  lies  the  very 
essence  of  eternal  salvation.     Nor  to  the  third,  the 
miracles  of  the  saints,  can  any  objection  be  taken, 
provided  they  are  carefully  distinguished,  which  is 
easy,  from  the  miracles  of  the  prophets.     The  exist- 
ence of  these  wonders  is  absolutely  certain,  and  was 
approved  by  the  Companions.     As  to  the  second, 
the  unveiling  of  the  unseen  world,  the  case  is  more 
complicated.     The  most  of  what  they  say  is  like  the 
"obscure"  verses  in  the  Qur^an.     It  is  uttered  in 
ecstasy,  and  he  who  is  not  in  ecstasy  cannot  under- 
stand it.     The  words  used  give  no  clue  to  what  they 
mean,  for  words  are  conventional  signs  for  known 
things,  and  these  things  are  not  known.     You  will 
remember  here  Occam's  form  of  Nominalism.     It 
is  better,  therefore,  to  let  these  sayings  alone,  as  we 
let  alone  the  "obscure"  passages  in  the  Qur^dn.     He 
to  whom  God  has  given  knowledge  of  the  meaning 
of  any  of  these  sayings,  in  a  way  which  agrees  with 
the  plain  sense  of  the  faith,  may  say,    "How  noble 
they  are  for  eternal  salvation ! "    In  this,  you  will  not 
fail  to  observe  precisely  the  phenomena  of  "speak- 
ing with  tongues,"  yet  with  one  curious  difference. 
Here  there  were  no  "tongues;"    they  spoke  their 
own  language,  and  hence  the  frequent  scandal.     It 
is  very  probable,  however,  that  they  used  qur^anic 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    i73 

expressions,  and  these,  especially  if  they  were  non- 
Arabic  speakers  by  race,  would  have  a  haze  of 
vagueness  and  possibility  over  them. 

But  the  matter  went  even  farther.  In  the  fourth 
place,  the  Sufis  themselves  recognized  a  class  of 
utterances  which  they  called  shatahdt,  "overflowings 
in  ecstasy  as  of  drunkenness" — all  that  is  in  the 
etymology  and  usage  of  the  root — which  were  meta- 
phorical expressions  used  by  them  when  self-control 
had  been  lost.  For  these  they  were  held  to  account 
and  blamed  by  the  canonists.  Ibn  Khaldun  thinks 
that  in  justice  we  should  consider  the  following 
points.  First,  if  they  are  people  of  known  goodness 
and  an  evermastering  ecstasy  has  fallen  upon  them 
to  express  which  there  is  no  fixed  language,  then 
they  should  not  be  blamed  for  using  language  unsuit- 
able for  other  people  and  conditions.  We  may 
take  for  granted  that  such  people  do  not  think  of  it 
in  the  blasphemous  sense.  But,  secondly,  if  they 
are  not  people  of  known  goodness,  a  doubt  may 
enter.  And,  thirdly,  if  they  use  such  language 
when  not  in  a  state  of  ecstasy  but  in  control  of 
themselves  and  aware  of  what  they  say,  they  are 
plainly  to  be  held  accountable.  Finally,  Ibn  Khal- 
dun agreed  with  the  older  Sufis  in  holding  that  all 
such  attempts  to  get  behind  the  veil  and  to  com- 
prehend the  whole  nature  of  things  and  all  talkings 
about  such  perceptions  should  be  repressed.  The 
knowledge  of  God  is  too  wide,  and  his  creation  too 


174    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

great  to  be  so  comprehended;    and  to  cling  to  the 
guidance  of  God's  law  is  best. 

I  now  turn  to  some  concrete  examples  of  this 
religious  life;  and  I  take  up  first  the  case  for  which 
we  have  the  fullest  and  most  reliable  data.  It  is 
that  of  al-Ghazzall,  who  went  through  a  well- 
marked  and  permanent  conversion  in  1095  a.  d., 
spent  the  rest  of  his  life,  partly  as  a  Sufi  wanderer, 
partly  as  a  teacher  of  Sufi  theology,  and  died  in 
nil,  leaving  us  an  autobiography  which  is  unique 
in  Arabic  for  the  keenness  and  fulness  of  its  self- 
revelation.  Unfortunately,  he  was  beset  by  the 
utilitarianism  of  Islam,  and  so  could  not  be  content 
to  let  his  book  stand  for  itself  as  a  human  document, 
nor  even  as  an  apologia  pro  vita  sua.  He  must 
needs  make  out  of  it  a  manual  of  apologetics  suited 
to  his  time,  and  thus,  undoubtedly,  has  dulled  the 
personal  touch.  In  so  doing  he  has  furnished  per- 
haps the  most  striking  example  of  the  fatal  Muslim 
didacticism  which  does  not  permit  an  artist,  con- 
scious or  unconscious,  to  set  a  living  figure  before 
the  reader  and  leave  it  to  do  its  work,  but  must 
systematize  and  explain  everything.  In  this  the 
Muslim  writers  differ  markedly  from  the  poets  of 
heathen  Arabia  who  had  a  frank  delight  in  the 
simple  expression  of  themselves  without  thought  of 
their  audience. 

But,  for  all  this,  al-Ghazzali's  book  is  unique,  and 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    175 

I  must  now  put  before  you  considerable  extracts 
from  it.  It  has  been  used  already,  you  may  remem- 
ber, as  the  standard  Muslim  example  of  conversion 
by  Mr.  William  James,  in  his  Varieties  oj  Religious 
Experience.  He  wrote  it  late  in  life,  when  he  was 
more  than  fifty  (lunar)  years  old,  and  only  a  few 
years  before  his  early  death.  But  from  his  first 
youth  searching  to  know  reality  had  been  a  passion 
with  him,  and  he  recognized  that  this  passion  be- 
longed to  a  nature  planted  in  him  by  God.  It  was 
not  any  choice  of  his  own  which  made  him  keep  on 
seeking.  He  means,  I  think,  that  there  is  nothing 
sinful  or  unnatural  in  such  an  attitude.  From  his 
early  youth,  then,  he  could  no  longer  believe  simply 
because  he  was  taught  so.  He  looked  round  and 
saw  that  other  children  were  taught  differently — Jews 
or  Christians — and  they  grew  up  Jews  or  Chris- 
tians. But  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  Prophet 
said,  ''Every  child  is  born  a  MusHm  by  nature, 
then  his  parents  make  him  a  Jew  or  a  Christian 
or  a  Magian."  So  he  was  moved  to  ask  what 
was  the  essence  of  this  fundamental  nature,  and 
what  the  essence  of  the  opposing  traditional  creeds 
taught  by  parents  and  teachers,  and  how  he  could 
distinguish  between  these  traditional,  accepted 
views,  seeing  that  their  beginnings  were  simple 
dictations  and  there  was  much  contradiction  in 
distinguishing  between  the  true  of  them  and  the 
false : 


176    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

So  I  said  to  myself  [he  goes  on^],  what  I  want  is  knowledge 
of  the  real  natures  only  of  things.  I  must  ask,  therefore,  what 
is  the  essence  of  knowledge.  It  seemed  to  me,  then,  that  cer- 
tain knowledge  is  that  which  uncovers  the  thing  known  in 
such  a  way  that  there  does  not  remain  with  it  any  doubt, 
nor  accompany  it  the  possibility  of  error  or  illusion,  nor  can 
the  mind  conceive  such.  Security  from  error  must  accom- 
pany the  certain  to  such  a  degree  that  if  the  claim  of  ability 
to  show  its  falsity  is  made  by  someone,  for  example,  who  can 
turn  a  stone  into  gold  or  a  staff  into  a  serpent,  that  would  not 
produce  any  doubt  or  denial.  For  when  I  know  that  ten  is 
more  than  three,  if  someone  says  to  me,**No,  but  three  is 
more  than  ten,  and  I  will  prove  it  by  changing  this  staff  into 
a  serpent,"  and  he  does  change  it,  and  I  see  him  do  it,  I  do 
not  doubt  what  I  know  because  of  that;  and  the  only  result 
for  me  is  wonder  as  to  how  he  can  do  such  a  thing,  but  never 
any  doubt  as  to  what  I  know. 

Then  I  knew  that  everything  which  I  did  not  know  in  this 
fashion,  and  of  the  certainty  of  which  I  was  not  assured  in  this 
way,  was  a  kind  of  knowledge  in  which  there  could  be  neither 
trust  nor  surety,  and  knowledge  with  which  no  trust  goes  is  no 
certain  knowledge.  So  I  examined  all  the  things  which  I 
knew,  and  found  that  I  had  no  knowledge  which  could  be 
described  in  this  way,  except  sense-perceptions  and  necessary 
intuitive  knowledge.  Then,  after  despairing,  I  said,  "There 
is  no  hope  of  getting  to  the  dubious  except  through  the  clear, 
that  is  through  sense-perceptions  and  necessary  intuitive 
knowledge.  So  I  must  test  these  first,  that  it  may  be  clear  to 
me  whether  my  trust  in  objects  of  perception  and  my  security 
from  error  in  necessary  knowledge  is  of  the  same  kind  as 
my  trust  which  I  had  formerly  in  traditional  knowledge  and 
the  trust  which  the  most  of  men  have  in  reasoned  knowledge; 
or  is  a  certified  trust  without  treachery  or  limit." 

I  Al-Munqidh  min  ad-daldl,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  H.  1303,  p.  4. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    177 

So  I  turned  zealously  to  consider  the  objects  of  sense  and 
necessary  knowledge,  and  to  try  whether  I  could  bring  myself 
to  doubt  them.  And  doubt  reached  the  point  with  me,  that 
I  could  not  permit  myself  to  extend  trust  even  to  objects  of 
the  senses.  Doubt  as  to  them  kept  spreading,  and  I  said, 
''How  can  you  be  sure  of  objects  of  sense,  while  the  strongest 
of  the  senses  is  vision,  and  it  looks  at  a  shadow  and  sees  the 
shadow  standing  unmoved  and  judges  that  there  is  no  motion. 
Then,  by  test  and  observation  after  a  time,  it  knows  that  the 
shadow  does  move,  and  not  suddenly  but  gradually,  bit  by 
bit,  never  standing  still.  And  it  looks  at  a  star  and  sees  that 
star  small  as  a  gold  piece,  but  geometry  proves  that  it  is  greater 
than  the  earth.  In  such  cases,  then,  the  senses  decide  in  one 
way  but  reason  in  another;  it  gives  the  lie  and  accuses  of 
deceit  in  a  way  which  cannot  be  answered." 

So  I  said,  "My  trust  in  the  objects  of  the  senses,  too,  is 
gone;  perhaps  there  can  be  no  trust  save  in  those  intellectual 
results  which  are  axiomatic,  as  our  saying  that  ten  is  more  than 
three,  or  that  negation  and  affirmation  cannot  exist  together  in 
one  thing,  and  that  a  thing  cannot  be  both  created  and  eternal 
a  parte  ante,  existent  and  non-existent,  necessary  and  impos- 
sible." But  the  objects  of  the  senses  said,  "What  assurance 
have  you  that  your  trust  in  conclusions  of  reason  is  not  like 
your  trust  in  the  objects  of  the  senses?  You  used  to  trust 
in  me;  then  came  the  test  of  the  reason  and  gave  me  the  lie, 
and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  test  of  reason  you  would  have 
gone  on  believing  me.  Then,  perhaps,  behind  the  perceptions 
of  the  reason  there  is  another  test;  whenever  it  appears 
reason  will  be  given  the  lie  by  it,  just  as  reason  appeared  and 
gave  sense  the  lie.  That  such  a  perception  has  not  appeared 
does  not  prove  its  impossibility."^ 

At  an  answer  to  this  my  soul  somewhat  paused  and  justified 

I  The  confusion  here  between  singular  and  plural,  sense  and 
its  results,  is  in  the  original  also. 


178    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

her  confusion  by  alleging  the  phenomena  of  dreaming.     She 
said,    ''Do  not  you  see  that  in  sleep  you  believe  in  certain 
things,  and  you  imagine  conditions  and  believe  that  they 
have  reality  and  fixity,  and  in  that  state  you  do  not  doubt 
them?    Then  you  wake  up,  and  you  know  that  to  all  your 
imaginations  and  beliefs  there  was  neither  foundation  nor  use. 
Then,  how  are  you  sure  that  all  which  in  your  waking-time 
you  believe  in,  because  of  either  sense  or  reason,  is  not  fact 
simply  in  relationship  to  your  then  condition?     But  it  is 
possible  that  a  condition  may  surprise  you,  the  relationship 
of  which   to  your  waking-state  is  like   the  relationship  of 
your  waking-state  to  your  dreams;  and  your  waking-state 
is  a  sleep  in  relation  to  it.     Then,  whenever  that  condition 
comes  upon  you,  you  will  be  assured  that  all  which  you  have 
vainly  imagined  by  your  reason  consists  of  baseless  phantoms 
only.     Or,  perhaps,  that  condition  is  what  the  Sufis  claim  to 
be  their  condition;    since  they  assert  that  they  have  open 
soul-perception  in  their  states,  which  come  when  they  plunge 
into  their  souls  and  are  apart  from  their  physical  senses,  of 
certain  states  which  do  not  agree  with  those  results  of  reason. 
Or,  perhaps  that  condition  is  death,  since  the  Prophet  said, 
'Mankind  are  asleep,  and  when  they  die,  they  are  aroused.' 
So,  perhaps,  the  life  of  this  world  is  a  sleep,  in  relation  to  the 
other  world;  and  when  a  man  dies,  things  appear  to  him  which 
are  opposed  to  what  he  observes  now.     Then  it  will  be  said 
to  him,  'We  have  uncovered  from  thee  thy  veil,  and  thy  sight, 
today,  is  piercing.'  "^ 

When  these  thoughts  came  to  me,  a  deep  impression  was 
made  upon  me,  and  I  desired  some  treatment  against  them, 
but  it  was  not  easy.  They  could  be  refuted  only  by  means 
of  proof;  and  no  proof  can  be  set  up,  except  by  combining 
primary  facts  of  knowledge;  but  when  these  are  not  granted, 
a  proof  cannot  be  put  together.     This  disease  troubled  me  and 

I  Qur.  1,  21. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    179 

remained  with  me  almost  two  months.     During  that  time,  I 
was  an  absolute  sceptic  in  mind,  if  not  in  statement. 

At  length  God  healed  me  of  that  disease,  and  my  soul 
returned  to  health  and  balance,  and  the  necessary  intellectual 
truths  came  back,  accepted  and  certain.  That  was  not  by 
means  of  a  proof  or  by  any  form  of  words;  but  by  a  light 
which  God  cast  into  my  breast.  That  light  is  the  key  of  the 
most  of  knowledge;  and  whoever  believes  that  the  mystical 
unveiling  is  based  upon  abstract  proofs  narrows  the  wide 
mercy  of  God.  When  the  apostle  was  asked  what  was  the 
meaning  of  "opening,"  in  the  saying  of  God,  ''Whom  God 
wills  to  guide,  he  opens  his  breast  to  Islam," ^  he  said,  "It  is 
light  which  God  throws  into  the  heart."  And  when  he  was 
asked,  "And  what  is  its  sign?"  he  said,  "Removing  from 
the  abode  of  deceit  and  return  to  the  abode  of  eternity." 
About  this  same  thing  the  Prophet  said,  "God  Most  High 
created  his  creatures  in  darkness;  then  he  sprinkled  upon 
them  some  of  his  light."  It  is  from  that  light  that  the  unveil- 
ing ought  to  be  sought,  and  that  light  is  cast  forth  suddenly 
out  of  the  divine  bounty  on  certain  occasions,  and  should  be 
watched  for;  as  the  Prophet  said,  "Lo,  in  the  days  of  your 
earthly  life,  thy  Lord  hath  outbreathings;  be  ready  to  meet 
them."  And  the  point  of  all  these  narratives  is  to  show  that  all 
diligence  should  be  used  in  seeking,  until  that  is  reached 
which  was  not  sought.  Fundamental  conceptions  cannot  be 
sought,  for  they  are  with  us.  And  if  that  which  is  with  us 
is  sought,  it  cannot  be  found,  and  vanishes.  He  who  seeks 
what  is  not  sought  cannot  be  suspected  of  falling  short  in 
seeking  what  is  sought. 

When,  then,  God  healed  me  of  this  disease,  by  his  grace  and 
wide  bounty,  I  observed  that  the  different  kinds  of  seekers 
around  me  divided  into  four  classes.  There  were  the  scho- 
lastic theologians  who  claimed  to  be  guided  by  judgment  and 

I  Qur.  vi,  125. 


i8o    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

discussion.  There  were  the  allegorists  [holders  of  an  inner 
meaning]  who  asserted  that  they  possessed  a  doctrine  of  their 
own,  and  that  they  were  distinguished  from  others  in  that  they 
learned  from  an  infalHble  Head.  There  were  the  philosophers, 
who  asserted  that  they  followed  logic  and  absolute  proof. 
And  there  were  the  Sufis,  who  claimed  that  they  were  dis- 
tinguished by  being  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  that  they 
possessed  immediate  soul-perception  and  unveiling. 

Then  I  said  to  myself,  ''The  truth  must  needs  lie  with 
one  of  these  four,  for  these  are  they  who  walk  the  paths  of  the 
seeking  of  the  truth.  If,  then,  the  truth  is  hidden  from  them, 
there  remains  no  hope  of  success  in  gaining  it.  For  there  is 
no  hope  in  returning  to  a  traditional  faith,  after  it  has  once 
been  abandoned,  since  the  essential  condition  in  the  holder 
of  a  traditional  faith  is  that  he  should  not  know  that  he  is  a 
traditionalist.  Whenever  he  knows  that,  the  glass  of  his 
traditional  faith  is  broken.  That  is  a  breaking  that  cannot 
be  mended  and  a  separating  that  cannot  be  united  by  any 
sewing  or  putting  together,  except  it  be  melted  in  the  fire  and 
given  another  new  form." 

Al-Ghazzali  now  turns  to  a  discussion  of  these 
different  pathways  to  truth,  one  after  the  other.  It 
is  here  that  his  desire  to  write  a  manual  of  apologetics 
interferes  most  with  the  value  of  his  book  as  an 
autobiographical  revelation  of  himself.  We  can 
hardly  believe  that  he  worked  through  these  different 
schools  in  the  calm  and  orderly  fashion  which  he 
now  sets  down.  But  in  the  putting  together  of  this 
systematized  search  for  truth,  it  is  perfectly  clear 
that  he  is  simply  arranging,  in  what  he  thinks  is 
logical  form,  the  experiences  which  had  come  to 
him,  broken  and  irregularly,  in  the  life  of  his  soul. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    i8i 

There  can  be  no  question,  for  example,  that  his 
strange  drop  into  absolute  skepticism  and  his 
recovery,  not  by  argument  but  through  the  wideness 
of  God's  mercy,  are  narrated  as  they  actually  took 
place.  Similarly,  as  we  now  turn  to  his  account  of 
his  experiences  on  the  path  of  the  Sufis,  we  shall  not, 
I  think,  have  any  doubt  that  here,  too,  there  is  a 
genuine  page  from  his  inner  life. 

That  this  was  his  first  acquaintance  with  Sufi 
methods,  I  do  not  think.  Nor  that  he  had  not,  him- 
self, in  earlier  life,  experimented  in  their  practices. 
As  a  young  man,  he  had  evidently  experimented  in 
everything,  and  later  had  found  everything  vain. 
You  will  remember,  for  example,  the  story  of  his 
dream,  which  I  have  already  given,'  and  of  the 
advice  of  his  shaykh  to  him.  I  find  it  hard  to  put 
that  dream  in  his  life,  after  his  conversion,  and, 
therefore,  feel  compelled  to  believe  that  he  is  now 
returning  to  ground  already  trodden. 

His  second  trial  of  Sufiism  he  describes  as  follows  :^ 

Then  I  gave  my  attention  to  the  path  of  the  Sufis.  I  knew 
that  their  path  could  be  complete  only  by  means  of  both 
theory  and  practice.  On  the  side  of  theory,  its  result  is 
climbing  the  steep  ascent  of  the  soul  and  removing  from  the 
soul  its  blameworthy  characteristics  and  qualities,  until  one 
may  attain  by  it  to  being  alone  in  the  mind  with  God,  and 
to  the  adornment  of  the  mind  with  the  constant  thought  of 
God. 

1  Supra,  p.  92. 

2  P.  28  of  text  cited  above. 


i82    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Now  the  theory  of  it  was  easier  to  me  than  its  practice.  So 
I  began  to  acquire  it  by  the  study  of  their  books  [al-Ghazzall 
here  gives  a  Hst  of  several]  until  I  had  reached  the  summit  of 
their  theoretical  objects  and  had  learned  as  much  of  their 
path  as  could  be  gained  by  studying  and  hearing  about  it. 

It  was  plain  to  me  that  it  was  impossible  to  attain  the  most 
characteristic  elements  by  study;  these  called  for  experience 
[dhawq]  and  state  [Ml]  and  change  in  one's  qualities.  How 
great  a  difference  there  is  between  one  who  knows  the  defini- 
tion of  health  and  the  definition  of  satiety  and  the  causes  and 
conditions  of  both,  and  one  who  is  in  health  and  is  satisfied! 
Or  between  one  who  knows  the  definition  of  drunkenness, 
that  it  is  an  expression  for  a  condition  which  results  from 
vapors  which  ascend  from  the  stomach  to  the  abodes  of 
thought,  gaining  control  of  them,  and  one  who  is  actually 
drunk!  He  who  is  drunk  does  not  know  the  definition  and 
science  of  drunkenness;  he  is  drunk  and  has  no  knowledge 
at  all.  The  sober  man  knows  the  definition  of  drunkenness 
and  its  elements,  and  yet  nothing  of  drunkenness  is  with  him. 
A  physician,  again,  when  he  is  ill,  knows  the  definition  of 
health  and  its  causes  and  its  remedies,  although  he  is  lacking 
in  health.  Similar  is  the  distinction  between  knowing  the 
nature,  the  conditions,  and  the  causes  of  self-restraint,  and 
having,  as  your  condition,  self-restraint,  and  the  keeping  of 
the  soul  from  the  world. 

So  I  knew,  of  a  certainty,  that  to  the  Sufis,  states  and  not 
definitions  were  of  importance;  and  that  I  had  got  all  that 
could  be  got  by  way  of  learning;  that  what  was  left  could  not 
be  reached  by  hearing  and  studying,  but  only  by  experience 
and  the  following  of  a  certain  course  of  action. 

From  the  sciences  which  I  had  studied  and  the  ways  which 
I  had  gone  in  searching  out  the  kinds  of  sciences,  both  religious 
and  intellectual,  I  had  attained  to  an  assured  belief  in  God 
and  in  prophecy  and  in  the  Last  Day.    These  three  funda- 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    183 

mentals  of  faith  were  fixed  in  my  soul,  not  by  an  abstract, 
definite  proof,  but  by  connections  and  associations  and 
experiences,  all  the  elements  of  which  cannot  be  put  in  short. 
It  had  become  plain  to  me  that  I  had  no  hope  of  attaining 
to  the  salvation  of  the  world  to  come  except  by  piety  and 
the  restraint  of  the  soul  from  lust;  and  that  the  beginning  of 
all  that  must  be  the  cutting  of  the  ties  of  the  heart  to  this 
world,  the  abode  of  deceit,  and  the  return  to  the  abode  of 
eternity;  and  by  striving  toward  God  with  absoluteness  of 
purpose. 

That,  too,  I  knew,  could  not  be  completely  carried  out, 
except  by  turning  away  from  ambition  and  wealth  and  by 
flight  from  entanglements  and  restraint.  I  looked  at  my 
conditions,  and  lo,  I  was  plunged  in  restraints  which  sur- 
sounded  me  on  all  sides.  I  looked  at  my  works;  the  best  of 
them  were  studying  and  teaching;  and  lo,  in  them,  I  was 
striving  after  knowledge  that  was  unimportant  and  useless 
with  regard  to  the  world  to  come.  Then  I  considered  my 
purpose  in  studying;  and  lo,  it  was  not  purely  for  the  sake 
of  seeing  the  face  of  God,  but  its  inciter  and  mover  was  the 
search  for  repute  and  for  the  spread  of  renown. 

I  became  assured  that  I  was  upon  the  extremity  of  a 
crumbling  edge,  and  was  looking  down  into  the  Fire,  if  I  did 
not  turn  and  amend  my  state.  So  I  continued  meditating 
upon  that  for  a  time,  and,  having  still  freedom  of  choice,  one 
day,  I  would  fix  my  resolve  upon  going  away  from  Baghdad 
and  separating  myself  from  those  conditions,  and  another 
day  I  would  relax  that  resolution.  I  would  put  forward  one 
foot  and  draw  back  the  other.  I  could  not  have  a  pure  desire 
of  seeking  the  world  to  come  in  the  morning,  without  the 
army  of  lust  making  an  attack  and  breaking  it  in  the  evening. 
The  lusts  of  the  world  kept  dragging  me  by  their  chains  to 
abiding;  and  the  crier  of  faith  kept  proclaiming,  "Journey- 
ing!   journeying!    there  remaineth  not  of  life,  save  a  little. 


1 84    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

The  long  journey  is  before  thee;  and  all  that  thou  are  doing, 
of  labor  and  of  knowledge,  is  a  vain  phantom.  If  thou  dost 
not  prepare  thyself  now  for  the  world  to  come,  when  wilt  thou 
prepare  thyself  ?  And  if  thou  wilt  not  cut  thy  ties  now,  when 
wilt  thou  cut  them  ?  "  Thereupon  my  desire  would  be  aroused 
and  my  purpose  fixed.  But  the  devil  would  return  and  say, 
''This  is  an  accidental  condition;  beware  lest  thou  heed  it, 
for  it  will  pass  swiftly;  and  if  thou  obeyest  it,  and  abandonest 
this  ample  honor  and  settled  position,  free  from  perturbation 
and  embitterment  and  this  conceded  authority,  clear  of  hostile 
strife,  perhaps  thy  soul  would  have  adjusted  itself  to  it  and 
return  will  not  be  easy  to  thee." 

So  I  continued  swaying  between  the  attractions  of  the 
lusts  of  this  world  and  the  summons  of  the  other  world  almost 
six  months,  the  first  of  which  was  Rajab,  A.  h.  488.     In  that 
month,  the  matter  passed  the  bound  of  choice  to  compulsion, 
in  that  God  locked  my  tongue  till  it  was  bound  so  that  I 
could  not  teach.     I  would  put  pressure  upon  myself  to  teach 
a  single  day,  in  order  to  satisfy  certain  persons,  but  could  not 
bring  my  tongue  to  utter  a  word.     Then,  this  laming  of  my 
tongue  brought  upon  me  a  sorrow  in  my  mind;  my  digestion 
and  desire  for  food  and  drink  were  destroyed;    I  could  not 
swallow  a  drop  nor  digest  a  mouthful.     My  strength  began 
to  fail,  and  the  physicians  despaired  of  my  cure.     "This  is 
a  mental  trouble,"  they  said,  "which  has  come  to  affect  the 
physical  organization,  and  it  can  be  healed  only  by  rest  of  the 
mind  from  the  care  which  has  befallen  it."     Then,  feeling  my 
weakness  and  giving  up  entirely  my  own  will,  I  took  refuge 
with  God,  as  one  under  necessity  and  with  no  resource  left. 
And  he,  "Who  answers  the  driven  when  he  calls,"^  answered 
me  and  made  easy  to  me  my  turning  away  from  ambition 
and  wealth  and  family  and  companions. 

Al-Ghazzali  goes  on  to  tell  how  he  managed  to 

I  Qur.  xxvii,  6^. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    185 

extricate  himself  from  his  impossible  position  at 
Baghdad  at  the  court  of  the  Khalifa.  He  used  as  a 
pretext  that  he  wished  to  go  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca, 
although  his  real  intention  was  to  go  to  Syria  and 
stay  there,  immersing  himself  in  the  ascetic  and  con- 
templative life  of  the  Sufis.  Apparently,  his  departure 
caused  as  great  a  commotion  as  if  some  distin- 
guished professor  with  us,  or  a  bishop,  perhaps, 
were  to  announce  that  he  had  at  last  been  con- 
verted and  had  determined  to  abandon  the  world. 
In  the  church  of  Rome  such  a  man  would  enter  a 
monastic  order;  in  Protestantism  I  fear  that  there 
would  be  no  place  for  him.  Al-Ghazzall  became  a 
wandering  Sufi  monk.  He  went  to  Syria,  and  spent 
there  almost  two  years  in  retirement  and  solitude. 
He  passed  through  the  Sufi  religious  exercises,  puri- 
fying his  mind  and  heart,  laboring  with  his  failings 
in  character,  and  giving  himself  entirely  to  the 
thought  of  God.  After  a  time,  the  desire  that  he 
might  really  make  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  rose  in 
him;  the  clouds  had  passed  from  him  and  his 
rehgious  life  was  again  normal.  It  was  as  though 
a  man  with  us  had  withdrawn  from  the  communion 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  had  again  found  his  way 
back.  So  he  went  to  Mecca  and  performed  his 
religious  duties  there,  and  was  drawn  gradually 
again  into  the  current  of  events.  For  ten  years  his 
life  was  divided  between  the  cultivation  of  his  own 
soul  and  caring  for  others  in  the  world.     The  cares 


1 86    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

and  ties  of  the  world,  the  necessities  of  life,  and  the 
prayers  of  his  children,  now  drew  him  back;  his 
yearning  for  the  communion  and  peace  of  the 
mystic  now  drove  him  into  the  solitudes.  So  the 
years  passed: 

And  [he  said^]  there  were  revealed  to  me  in  the  course  of 
these  periods  of  solitude  things  which  cannot  be  numbered 
nor  exhausted.  The  amount  which  I  mention  now,  for  the 
benefit  of  others,  is  that  I  know  of  a  certainty  that  the  Sufis 
only  follow  the  path  to  God;  that  their  mode  of  life  is  the 
best  of  modes,  and  their  path  the  most  sure  of  paths,  and 
their  characteristics  the  purest  of  characteristics.  If  the 
intellectual  with  their  intellect  and  the  learned  with  their 
wisdom  and  students  of  the  mysteries  of  the  divine  law  with 
their  knowledge  were  to  join  to  alter  anything  of  the  Sufi 
mode  of  life  or  its  characteristics,  or  to  exchange  these  for 
something  better,  they  would  find  no  way  of  doing  that. 

All  actions  of  the  Sufis,  whether  of  movement  or  of  rest, 
whether  internal  or  external,  are  derived  from  the  light  of  the 
lamp  of  prophecy.  And  other  than  the  light  of  prophecy 
there  is  none  on  the  face  of  the  earth  from  which  illumination 
can  be  sought.  In  a  word,  whatever  is  said  as  to  their  pure 
path  is  so.  Its  first  condition  is  a  cleansing  of  the  mind 
entirely  from  all  that  is  not  God.  Its  key  of  entrance— just 
like  the  first  cry  of  prayer,  which  means  that  all  else  is  now 
unlawful— is  the  plunging  of  the  mind  totally  in  God.  But 
that  is  its  end  only  as  to  what  comes  under  free  will  and 
acquisition  from  its  beginnings;  it  is  really  only  the  beginning 
of  the  path,  and  what  comes  before  it  is  like  a  vestibule. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  path,  unveilings  and  clear  soul- 
perceptions  begin;  and  the  traveler  therein,  while  awake, 
sees  angels  and  the  souls  of  prophets,  and  hears  their  voices, 

I  P.  32  of  text  cited  above. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    187 

and  learns  from  them.  Then  his  spiritual  condition  advances 
from  witnessing  of  forms  and  simiHtudes  to  stages  where  the 
limit  of  language  is  too  narrow,  and  no  rendering  in  words  is 
possible,  for  such  expression  would  contain  manifest  errors, 
against  which  there  could  be  no  guarding.  A  point  of  near- 
ness to  God  is  reached  which  some  have  thought  to  render 
as  huhil,  "fusion  of  being;"  some  as  ittihdd,  "identification;" 
and  some  as  wusul,  "union."  But  all  these  expressions  con- 
tain error,  and  he  who  is  in  that  condition  ought  not  to  say 
more  than  the  poet: 

And  there  happened  what  happened  of  that  which  I  mention  not; 
So  think  of  a  good  thing,  and  ask  not  concerning  the  Good.^ 

He  who  has  not  been  granted  actual  experience  of  any- 
thing of  this,  can  know  of  the  essence  of  prophecy  only  the 
name.  The  miracles  {kardmdt)  of  the  saints  are  in  reality  the 
beginnings  of  prophets.  That  was,  too,  the  first  condition 
of  the  Prophet  when  he  went  to  Mount  Hira,  and  was  alone 
there  with  his  Lord,  engaged  in  religious  exercises,  until  the 
Arabs  said,  "  Muhammad  is  passionately  in  love  with  his 
Lord."  Whoever  follows  the  Sufis  in  their  course  can  verify 
this  condition  by  experience,  [dhawq]  and  whoever  is  not 
granted  actual  experience  can  be  assured  of  it  by  the  test  of 
listening.  If  he  consorts  much  with  them,  he  will  understand 
that  as  a  certainty  through  their  circumstances.  He  who 
companies  with  them  will  gain  from  them  their  faith;  for 
they  are  not  such  that  their  companion  can  be  lost.  But  he 
who  cannot  company  with  them,  let  him  know  assuredly  the 
possibility  of  that  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  by  certain 
proofs,  such  as  we  have  laid  down  in  the  Book  of  the  Marvels 
of  the  Heart. ^  Verification,  then,  by  proof  is  knowledge; 
having  intimate  contact  with  the  essence  of  that  condition  is 

I  Or,  perhaps,  "So  think  a  report,  and  ask  not  concerning 
the  report." 

a  Translated  below,  pp.  220  ff. 


1 88    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

experience;  receiving  on  the  test  of  listening,  with  approval, 
is  faith;   these  are  three  stages. 

On  this  basis,  then,  al-Ghazzali  would  put  the 
proof  of  the  fact  of  prophecy.  The  soul  witnesses 
to  it,  either  by  absolute  experience  of  strictly  similar 
phenomena,  or  by  first-hand  observation  of  the  exist- 
ence of  such  similar  phenomena,  or  by  certain  proofs 
which  I  hope  to  take  up  later.  The  basis  of  it  all  is, 
therefore,  what  the  Sufis  call  "states."  The  word  is 
a  puzzling  one  to  translate,  and  must  be  rendered 
differently  in  different  contexts.  Primarily,  it  means 
only  a  psychological  condition,  arising  without  effort 
or  apparent  cause,  as  opposed  to  results  of  reasoning. 
It  is  feeling,  as  opposed  to  reason;  an  immediate  con- 
sciousness, as  opposed  to  derivative  knowledge.' 

The  data  of  such  phenomena  of  the  inner  life  were 
for  al-Ghazzall  and  his  school,  that  is  practically  for 
al-Islam  after  him,  the  only  certain  basis  for  religious 
faith  and  knowledge.     He  never  really  abandoned 

ilbn  cArabi,  the  great  western  mystic,  thus  distinguishes: 
"Knowledge  is  of  three  grades:  (a)  rational,  any  knowledge 
axiomatic  or  as  a  consequence  of  consideration  of  a  proof  under  the 
condition  of  stumbling  on  what  that  proof  means;  (b)  knowl- 
edge of  'states;'  these  are  reached  only  by  'tasting'  and  the 
merely  intellectual  man  cannot  know  this  or  get  to  it  by  a  proof; 
such  is  knowledge  of  the  sweetness  of  honey,  the  bitterness 
of  aloes,  of  emotion  and  longing;  he  only  who  has  experienced 
these  can  know  them;  (c)  knowledge  of  the  secrets;  it  is  above 
the  sphere  of  reason  and  is  a  knowledge  breathed  into  the  mind 
by  the  Holy  Spirit;  it  is  peculiar  to  prophets  and  saints;  by  it 
they  take  mysteriously  all  knowledge  to  themselves  "  (Comm.  on 
Ihyd,  Vol.  VII,  p.  245). 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    189 

his  skeptical  position  as  to  the  results  of  reason; 
and,  in  fact,  he  tended  to  ascribe  all  human  knowl- 
edge more  or  less  directly  to  revelation  either  through 
prophets  or  saints.  For  him,  as  for  Ibn  Khaldun, 
philosophy  was  bankrupt,  and  he  retained  only  so 
much  trust  in  reason  as  to  enable  him  dialectically 
to  destroy  the  possibility  of  a  metaphysical  system, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  to  establish  the  authority  of 
psychological  states,  on  the  other.  In  the  revelation 
of  man's  emotional  nature,  not  in  the  results  of  his 
reason,  lie  fact  and  certainty;  for,  on  that  side,  there 
is  a  spark  in  man  of  the  divine  nature ;  but  reason  is 
a  mere  utilitarian  drudge,  limited  to  a  narrow  round, 
and  beyond  that  to  be  distrusted.  Further,  the 
Sufis  used  the  word  "states"  to  indicate  also  those 

• 

conditions  of  joy  or  sorrow,  elation  or  depression, 
which  descend  upon  the  heart  of  the  devotee  in 
constant  change.  And  as  a  last  development,  a 
"state,"  in  the  highest  sense,  is  a  state  of  ecstasy 
when  the  devotee  has  passed  out  of  himself,  is  uncon- 
scious of  the  world,  and  conscious  only  of  God. 
But  none  of  these  could  be  controlled  by  the  will; 
the  spirit  came  and  went.  As  with  the  Scholar 
Gypsy,  "it  took  heaven-sent  moments  for  that  skill." 
Yet  this  "skill"  was  man's  only  guide.  That  it  was 
unto  this  last  that  the  church  of  Islam  came,  in  spite 
of  the  crass  and,  one  might  almost  say,  materialistic 
monotheism  of  Muhammad,  is  one  of  the  strangest 
developments  in  all  the  history  of  religion.     The 


1 90    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

wheel  came  full  circle  and  seems  now  nailed  in  its 
place. 

Another  word  worthy  of  notice  is  that  which  I 
have  rendered  above  "experience."  Literally,  it 
means  "taste,"  and  is  either  the  act  of  tasting,  or 
the  taste  itself.  Then  it  has  various  derived  appli- 
cations; tasting  in  any  way;  taste  in  language  and 
literature;  tasting  the  savor  of  the  divine  truth  or 
essence  in  the  soul ;   all  such  soul-experiences. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  al-Ghazzali  gives  in 
the  following  words  his  final  results  as  to  the  nature 
of  man  and  the  character  of  man's  intercourse  with 
the  unseen  world :  ^ 

Then,  after  I  had  persevered  in  withdrawal  from  the 
world,  and  in  the  solitary  life  for  almost  ten  years,  there 
became  plain  to  me  and  certain,  in  the  course  of  that,  by 
innumerable  causes — at  one  time  by  spiritual  experience,  at 
another  time  by  demonstrative  knowledge,  and  at  another 
time  by  acceptance  on  faith — that  man  is  created  with  a  body 
and  with  a  heart,  I  mean  by  ''heart"  his  spiritual  essence 
which  is  the  locus  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  as  opposed  to  the 
flesh-and-blood  organ  in  which  dead  bodies  and  the  lower 
animals  share.  Further,  it  became  plain  to  me  that  as  the 
body  has  a  health  in  which  is  its  happiness  and  a  sickness  in 
which  is  its  destruction,  so  the  heart,  similarly,  has  a  health 
and  a  soundness  (none  is  saved  "except  he  who  cometh  to 
God  with  a  sound  heart"*)  and  a  sickness,  in  which  is  its 
eternal  destruction  for  the  world  to  come,  as  God  hath  said, 
"In  their  hearts  is  a  sickness. "^     That  ignorance  with  regard 

^  P.  38  of  the  Munqidh.  2  Qur.  xxvi,  89. 

3  Ibid.,  ii,  9. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    19 1 

to  God  is  a  destroying  poison;  and  that  disobedience  of  God, 
through  following  the  lusts,  is  the  heart's  grievous  ailment; 
that  knowledge  of  God  is  its  reviving  remedy,  and  obedience 
to  God  in  opposition  to  the  lusts  is  its  healing  medicine; 
that  there  is  no  way  of  treating  it,  to  do  away  with  its  disease 
and  to  gain  for  it  health,  except  by  medicines;  just  as  there  is 
no  way  of  treating  the  body,  except  by  the  same. 

And  just  as  the  medicines  for  the  body  produce  an  effect 
in  gaining  health  through  a  property  in  them,  to  which  the 
intellect  cannot  attain,  but  with  regard  to  which  physicians 
must  be  believed  who  have  learned  that  property  from  the 
prophets  who,  in  turn,  came  to  know  the  properties  of  things, 
through  the  prophetic  property,  so  it  became  plain  to  me  that 
the  intellect  could  not  attain  to  the  mode  of  the  working  of 
the  medicines  of  the  heart,  which  are  exercises  of  devotion, 
in  their  definitions  and  amounts,  defined  and  prescribed  by  the 
prophets,  but  that,  with  regard  to  this,  the  prophets  must  be 
followed  who  attained  unto  these  properties  by  the  light  of 
prophecy  and  not  by  means  of  reason.  And  just  as  medicines 
are  made  up  of  kind  and  amount,  and  some  are  double  of 
others  in  weight  and  amount;  and  as  in  the  difference  of 
these  amounts  there  lies  a  secret  belonging  to  their  proper- 
ties; so  acts  of  devotion  which  are  the  medicine  of  the  disease 
of  the  heart  are  compounded  of  actions,  differing  in  kind  or 
amount,  as  "prostration"  is  double  of  "bowing,"  and  the 
prayer  of  the  dawn  is  half  the  prayer  of  the  afternoon  in 
amount;  and  in  this  there  is  a  certain  secret  belonging  to  the 
properties,  which  cannot  be  learned  except  by  the  light  of 
prophecy. 

Those,  therefore,  have  been  most  foolish  who  have  desired 
by  means  of  reason  to  discover  for  those  things  a  law,  or  have 
imagined  that  they  were  so  given  by  accident — not  on  account 
of  a  secret  in  them  which  required  them,  by  way  of  this 
property.    And  just  as  in  medicines  there  are  bases  which  are 


192    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

fundamental  and  additions  which  are  supplemental,  every 
one  of  which  has  peculiar  effects  on  the  working  of  the  bases, 
so  supererogatory  acts  of  devotion  and  usage  are  complements 
completing  the  effects  of  the  basal  acts  of  devotion. 

In  a  word,  the  prophets  are  the  physicians  of  the  diseases 
of  hearts;  and  the  only  use  and  authority  for  reason  is  that 
it  should  teach  us  this,  and  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth 
of  prophecy  and  to  its  own  inability  to  attain  to  what  the  eye 
of  prophecy  can  reach,  and  that  it  should  take  us  by  our 
hands  and  commit  us  to  prophecy,  as  the  blind  are  committed 
to  their  guides  and  the  sick  to  their  physicians.  This  is  the 
work  and  the  bound  of  reason,  and  beyond  this  it  may  not 
go,  except  to  make  known  what  the  physician  has  taught  it. 
These  things  I  learned  with  the  assurance  of  absolute  per- 
ception in  the  course  of  my  solitude  and  my  retirement  from 
the  world. 

Thus  does  al-Ghazzali  build  an  ingenious  defense 
of  the  mechanical  details  of  the  Muslim  ritual  law 
upon  his  agnostic  theory  of  knowledge.  I  shall 
come  back,  later,  to  his  Science  of  the  Heart,  but, 
in  the  mean  time,  must  leave  him  with  one  remark. 
The  exercises  by  which,  in  his  case,  the  ecstatic  state 
was  induced,  seem  to  have  been  of  a  simply  devo- 
tional and  personal  character.  We  have  no  details 
of  his  pursuing  them  at  this  time  under  the  special 
guidance  of  a  shaykh,  although,  during  his  earlier 
life,  we  have  already  seen  him  working  under  such 
influence.  Thus,  with  him,  if  there  was  any  hypno- 
tism in  the  case,  it  must  have  been  exercised  by 
himself.  It  is  significant  that  the  course  of  prepara- 
tion through  which  he  went  as  a  young  man,  under 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    193 

the  personality  of  a  teacher,  came  to  nothing  and  left 
him  capable  of  absolute  unbelief.  His  real  conver- 
sion, as  we  have  seen  it,  sprang  from  within  himself, 
and  was  induced  or  fostered  by  no  foreign  influence. 
Of  the  reality  of  the  change  in  him  there  can  be  no 
question.  His  own  modesty  as  to  the  rank  in  saint- 
hood which  he  had  reached  is  significant.  So  the 
following  story  has  great  psychological  probability, 
as  it  evidently  describes  his  effort  to  free  his  mind 
from  the  burden  of  all  his  legal  and  theological 
studies,  and  to  present  it  as  a  tabula  rasa  to  the  new 
impressions.     A  later  mystic  tells  it : 

Al-Ghazzall  was  wont  to  say,  "When  I  wished  to  plunge 
into  following  the  people  [the  Sufis]  and  to  drink  of  their  drink, 
I  looked  at  my  soul,  and  I  saw  how  much  it  was  curtained 
in" — at  this  time  he  had  no  shaykh — "so  I  retired  into 
solitude  and  busied  myself  with  religious  exercises  for  forty 
days  and  there  was  doled  to  me  of  knowledge  what  I  had 
not  had,  purer  and  finer  than  I  had  known.  Then  I  looked 
upon  it,  and  lo,  in  it  was  a  legal  element.  So  I  returned  to 
solitude  and  busied  myself  with  religious  exercises  for  forty 
days,  and  there  was  doled  to  me  other  knowledge,  purer  and 
finer  than  what  had  befallen  me  at  first,  and  I  rejoiced  in  it. 
Then  I  looked  upon  it,  and  lo,  in  it  was  a  speculative  element. 
So  I  returned  to  solitude  a  third  time  for  forty  days,  and  there 
was  doled  to  me  other  knowledge;  it  was  finer  and  purer. 
Then  I  looked  on  it,  and  lo,  in  it  was  an  element  mixed  with 
a  knowledge  that  is  known  [i.  e.,  not  simply  perceived,  felt], 
and  I  did  not  attain  to  the  people  of  the  inward  sciences. 
So  I  knew  that  writing  on  a  surface  from  which  something 
has  been  erased  is  not  like  writing  on  a  surface  in  its  first 
purity  and  cleanness,  and  I  never  separated  myself  from 


194    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

speculation  except  in  a  few  things."  On  this  there  is  the 
remark,  "May  God  have  mercy  on  Abu-  Hamid  al-Ghazzall; 
how  great  was  his  justice  and  his  guarding  himself  from  any 
claim!"^ 

And  here,  finally,  is  a  remark  by  an  intimate 
friend  which  shows  how  much  he  was  changed  from 
the  supercilious,  self-confident  scholar  of  his  earlier 
life : 

However  much  he  met  of  contradiction  and  attack  and 
slander,  it  made  no  impression  on  him,  and  he  did  not  trouble 
himself  to  answer  his  assailants.  I  visited  him  many  times, 
and  it  was  no  bare  conjecture  of  mine  that  he,  in  spite  of  what 
I  saw  in  him  in  time  past  of  maliciousness  and  roughness 
toward  people,  and  how  he  looked  upon  them  contemptuously, 
through  his  being  led  astray  by  what  God  had  granted  him 
of  ease,  in  word  and  thought  and  expression,  and  through  the 
seeking  of  rank  and  position,  had  come  to  be  the  very  opposite 
and  was  purified  from  these  stains.  And  I  used  to  think 
that  he  was  wrapping  himself  in  the  garment  of  pretense,  but 
I  realized  after  investigation  that  the  thing  was  the  opposite 
of  what  I  had  thought,  and  that  the  man  had  recovered  after 
being  mad."^ 

1  "Life"  in  Journal  of  American  Oriental  Society,  Vol.  XX, 
p.  90. 

2  Op.  cit.  p.  105. 


LECTURE  VII 

SAINTS  AND  THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE 
IN  ISLAM.— Continued 

Our  next  example  of  the  mystical  life  takes  us  to 
India  under  the  Mogul  emperors,  during  the  reigns 
of  Akbar,  Jahanglr,  Shah-Jahan,  and  Aurangzib. 
Stretching  through  these  reigns,  there  lived  at 
Balkh,  Cashmere,  and  Lahore,  a  saint  of  national 
celebrity,  whose  life,  sayings  and  doings  have  been 
made  public  by  von  Kremer'  on  the  absolutely 
first-hand  evidence  of  a  book  written  by  an  imme- 
diate disciple,  who  lived  a  curiously  mixed  life,  in 
part  as  a  Sufi  student,  and  in  part  as  an  official  of 
rank  at  the  Mogul  court.  The  saint  was  Molla- 
Shah,  who  was  born  in  Badakhshan  in  a.  d.  1584; 
educated  at  Balkh  and  Lahore,  received  into  the 
Qadirite  order  of  darwishes;  became  a  pantheistic 
Sufi,  but  went  through  the  external  rites  of  Islam  in 
order  not  to  offend  the  people;  developed  great 
personal  magnetism  by  which  he  surrounded  himself 
with  many  devoted  disciples;  lived  through  several 
attacks  for  heresy,  and  managed  to  conciliate  even 
the  puritan  Aurangzib;  and  died  in  the  odor  of 
sanctity  at  Lahore,  in  1661.  His  disciple  and 
biographer  was  Tawakkul  Beg,  whom  as  a  young 
man  he  initiated  into  the  mystical  life  and  led  to  the 

I  Journal  asiatigue,  February,  1869,  p.  105. 

195 


196    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

point  where  he  clearly  perceived  the  inner  light, 
the  unity  of  all  things,  and  himself  vanishing,  as  an 
individual,  in  the  One. 

The  interest  in  the  account  lies  in  the  plain  hypno- 
tism employed  and  in  the  comparatively  minor  im- 
portance of  devotional  and  ascetic  exercises.  It  is  true 
that  Molla-Shah,  himself,  according  to  this  account, 
had  reached  his  own  unveiling  by  such  exercises, 
and  without  the  hypnotic  help  of  a  teacher.  But 
for  his  own  pupils,  he  had  discovered  a  simpler  and 
shorter  course,  in  which  he  used  his  will  and  per- 
sonality to  open,  as  the  phrase  is,  the  knot  of  their 
hearts.  That  method  is  described  by  Tawakkul 
Beg  as  applied  to  himself  and  some  others.  His 
absolute  faith  in  his  master  and  evident  devotion  to 
his  memory  make  his  narrative  a  very  trustworthy 
document. 

For  a  long  time  he  found  it  difficult  to  prevail  upon 
Molla-Shah  to  operate  upon  him.  The  master  said 
that  he  recognized  that  the  young  man  had  a  true 
vocation  and  that  he  was  naturally  saddened  by  see- 
ing so  many  of  his  fellows  admitted  to  the  spiritual 
life.  But  if  he  were  initiated,  he  would  certainly 
abandon  the  public  life,  for  which  his  father,  who 
had  no  idea  of  mysticism,  intended  him.  What 
answer  could  Molla-Shah  give,  if  he  made  this  old 
soldier's  son  a  darwish  ?  Finally,  Tawakkul  Beg  cut 
the  knot  when  his  father  left  Kashmir  and  sought  to 
take  his  son  with  him.     He  ran  away,  returned  to 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    197 

Cashmere,  and  was  at  last  received  by  Molla-Shah. 
He  thus  describes  his  initiation,  which  I  translate 
from  von  Kremer's  French  rendering: 

I  passed  all  that  night  without  being  able  to  close  an  eye, 
and  set  myself  to  recite  the  one  hundred  and  twelfth  chap- 
ter of  the  Qur^dn  one  hundred  thousand  times,  which  I  accom- 
plished in  some  days.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Great  Name 
of  God  is  contained  in  that  chapter,  and  that  by  the  power  of 
that  name,  whoever  reads  it  one  hundred  thousand  times 
is  able  to  attain  accomplishment  of  all  his  desires.  So  I 
formed  a  wish  that  the  master  would  grant  me  his  afifection, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  convinced  myself  of  the  efficiency 
of  this  means.  For  scarcely  had  I  finished  reciting  that  chap- 
ter for  the  one  hundred  thousandth  time,  when  the  heart  of 
the  master  was  filled  with  sympathy  with  me,  and  he  gave 
orders  to  Senghin  Muhammad,  his  representative  [vicaire, 
in  von  Kremer's  French],  to  conduct  me,  the  following  night, 
into  his  presence.  During  that  entire  night  he  concentrated 
his  mind  upon  me,  while  I  directed  my  thought  toward  my 
own  heart;   but  the  knot  of  my  heart  did  not  open. 

So  three  nights  passed,  during  which  he  made  me  the 
object  of  his  spiritual  attention,  without  any  effect  being  felt. 
On  the  fourth  night,  Molla-Shah  said,  "This  night,  Molla- 
Senghin  and  Salih  Beg,  who  are  both  very  open  to  ecstatic 
emotion,  will  direct  all  their  mind  on  the  neophyte."  They 
obeyed  this  order,  while  I  remained  sitting,  the  whole  night, 
with  my  face  turned  toward  Mecca,  concentrating,  at  the 
same  time,  all  my  mental  faculties  upon  my  own  heart. 
Toward  the  dawn,  some  little  light  and  clearness  showed 
themselves  in  my  heart;  but  I  was  not  able  to  distinguish 
either  color  or  form. 

After  the  morning  prayers,  I  went  with  the  two  persons 
whom  I  have  just  named,  to  the  master  who  saluted  me  and 


198    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

asked  them  what  they  had  made  of  me.  They  repHed, 
"Ask  himself."  He  then  turned  to  me  and  asked  me  to  tell 
him  my  experiences.  I  said  to  him  that  I  had  perceived  a 
clearness  in  my  heart;  whereupon  the  shaykh  brightened  and 
said  to  me,  "Thy  heart  contains  an  infinity  of  colors;  but 
it  has  become  so  dark  that  the  gaze  of  these  two  crocodiles 
of  the  infinite  ocean  [of  mystical  knowledge]  have  not  been 
able  to  give  it  either  brightness  or  transparency.  The  moment 
is  come  when  I  myself  must  show  how  it  is  clarified." 

Thereupon,  he  made  me  sit  before  him,  my  senses  being  as 
though  intoxicated,  and  ordered  me  to  reproduce  his  own 
image  within  myself;  and,  after  having  bandaged  my  eyes, 
he  asked  me  to  concentrate  all  my  mental  faculties  on  my 
heart.  I  obeyed,  and  in  an  instant,  by  the  divine  favor  and 
by  the  spiritual  assistance  of  the  shaykh,  my  heart  opened. 
I  saw,  then,  that  there  was  something  like  an  overturned  cup 
within  me.  This  having  been  set  upright,  a  sensation  of 
unbounded  happiness  filled  my  being.  I  said  to  the 
master,  "This  cell,  where  I  am  seated  before  you — I  see  a 
faithful  reproduction  of  it  within  me  and  it  appears  to  me 
as  though  another  Tawakkul  Beg  were  seated  before  another 
Molla-Shah."  He  replied,  "Very  good!  The  first  apparition 
which  appears  to  thee  is  the  image  of  the  master.  Thy  com- 
panions [the  other  novices]  have  been  prevented  by  other 
mystical  exercises;  but,  as  far  as  regards  myself,  this  is  not 
the  first  time  that  I  have  met  such  a  case."  He  then  ordered 
me  to  uncover  my  eyes;  and  I  saw  him,  then,  with  the  physical 
organ  of  vision,  seated  before  me.  He  then  made  me  bind 
my  eyes  again,  and  I  perceived  him  with  my  spiritual  sight, 
seated  similarly  before  me.  Full  of  astonishment,  I  cried 
out,  "O  Master!  whether  I  look  with  my  physical  organs 
or  with  my  spiritual  sight,  always  it  is  you  that  I  see." 

After  these  things,  I  saw  advancing  toward  me  a  dazzling 
figure,  and  when  I  had  told  the  master  of  it,  he  directed  me 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    199 

to  ask  the  apparition  its  name.  I  addressed  to  it  that 
question,  in  my  mind,  and  the  figure  repHed  in  the  voice  of  the 
heart,  "My  name  is  ^Abd  al-Qadir  al-jllani."  I  heard  this 
answer  with  my  spiritual  ear.  The  master  then  counseled 
me  to  pray  the  saint  to  accord  to  me  his  spiritual  assistance 
and  succor.  When  I  had  asked  this,  the  apparition  said  to 
me,  '*I  have  already  granted  to  thee  my  spiritual  assistance; 
it  is  by  it  that  the  knots  of  thy  heart  have  been  opened." 
Filled  with  profound  gratitude,  I  undertook  the  duty  of 
reciting  every  Friday  night  the  whole  Qur^dn  in  honor  of  this 
great  saint,  and  during  two  entire  years,  I  never  neglected 
that  usage.  MoUa-Shah  then  said  to  me,  "The  spiritual 
world  has  been  shown  to  thee  in  all  its  beauty.  Remain,  then, 
seated,  effacing  thyself  entirely  in  the  marvels  of  that  unknown 
world." 

I  conformed  strictly  to  the  directions  of  my  master;  and 
from  day  to  day  the   spiritual   world  was  opened  further 
before  me.     The  day  following,   I  saw  the  figures  of  the 
Prophet  and  of  his  principal  Companions,  and  of  legions  of 
angels  and  of  saints  pass  before  my  inner  sight.   Three  months 
went  by  in  this  manner,  after  which  the  sphere  where  all  color 
is  effaced  opened  before  me,  and  then  all  these  images  dis- 
appeared.    During  all  this  time  the  master  did  not  cease  to 
explain  to  me  the  doctrine  of  union  with  God  and  of  mystical 
insight;    but  he  was  not  willing  to  show  me  the  absolute 
reality.     It  was  not  until  after  a  year  that  the  science  of  the 
absolute  reality  with  regard  to  the  conception  of  my  own 
proper   existence  reached  me.     The  following  verses  were 
revealed,  in  that  moment,  to  my  heart,  whence  they  passed  to 
my  lips  unconsciously: 

I  knew  not  that  this  perishable  carcass  was  naught  but  water 

and  clay. 
I  did  not  recognize  either  the  faculties  of  the  heart  or  of  the 

soul,  or  of  the  body: 


200    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Unhappy  am  I  that  without  Thee,  so  much  of  my  Hfe  has 

passed. 
Thou  wast  I,  and  I  knew  it  not. 

When  I  submitted  to  Molla-Shah  this  poetic  inspiration,  he 
rejoiced  that  the  idea  of  union  with  God  had  at  last  been  mani- 
fested to  my  heart;  and,  addressing  his  friends,  he  said, 
"Tawakkul  Beg  has  heard  from  my  mouth  the  words  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  union  with  God,  and  he  will  never  belie  its 
secret.  His  inner  sight  has  been  opened;  the  sphere  of  colors 
and  of  images  has  been  shown  to  him;  and  thereafter  the 
sphere  where  all  color  is  effaced  has  been  revealed  to  him. 
Whoever,  after  having  passed  through  all  these  phases  of 
the  union  with  God,  has  obtained  the  absolute  reality,  does 
not  permit  himself  to  be  led  again  astray  either  by  his  own 
doubts  or  by  those  which  skeptics  can  suggest." 

How  different  this  is  from  al-Ghazzall's  expe- 
rience needs  no  saying.  Here  there  is  no  ethical 
element;  there  is  nothing  but  the  stimulation  of 
emotional  religiosity  with,  so  far  as  this  narrative 
goes,  no  suggestion  for  conduct.  The  object  is  to 
reach  a  certain  assurance  of  the  existence  of  the 
Unseen  and  a  direct  knowledge  as  to  the  relation 
of  the  individual  to  that  Unseen.  If  it  were  not  that 
the  operation  is  in  terms  of  emotion  and  intuition 
purely,  we  might  say  that  what  is  given  here  is 
a  metaphysical  basis  for  life.  Perhaps  Dr.  Max- 
well's "metapsychical"  would  again  be  the  better 
term. 

But,  further,  this  is  reached  by  most  evident 
"suggestion"  in  the  hypnotic  sense.  We  can  see, 
too,  that  the  path  along  which  the  neophyte  is  led 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    201 

is  a  well-known  one,  with  well-marked  stages,  as 
definite  as  in  the  development  of  an  old-fashioned 
conversion. 

The  references  to  stages  showing  color  and  form 
and  to  a  later  one,  where  color  vanishes,  are  inter- 
esting. In  this  case,  their  arrangement  and  sequence 
is  not  complicated,  nor  does  it  seem  to  be  of  a 
mechanical  fixedness.  But  that  also  was  found,  and 
some  Sufi  teachers  held  that  the  neophyte  passed 
through  seven  stages  of  purification,  each  marked 
by  the  appearance  of  a  different  colored  light. 
Others  rejected  this  entirely.  Such  lights  might 
be  met,  they  said,  but  it  was  a  dangerous  thing  for 
the  neophyte  to  pay  too  great  attention  to  them. 
They  belonged  to  the  body,  and  did  not  come  from 
the  spiritual  world.  The  elaborate  classification  of 
them,  they  argued,  and  the  expectation  of  each  of 
them  at  a  definite  stage  was  to  universalize  and  to 
turn  into  a  dogma  the  purely  subjective  and  personal. 
You  will  fiind  more  on  this  matter  in  Fleischer's 
Kleiner e  Schrijten.^  His  hope  expressed  then  (in 
1862)  that  others  would  take  up  the  subject  and 
study  it  further,  has  not,  as  regards  Islam,  so  far  as 
I  know,  been  fulfilled.  In  the  discussions,  however, 
of  late  years,  of  the  emotional  religious  life,  such 
phenomena  have  occasionally  been  touched.* 

I  Vol.  Ill,  p.  440. 

3  See,  for  example,  William  James,  Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience,  p.  251,  and  Proceedings  0}  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  Part  LI,  p.  97  (the  recent  Welsh  revival). 


202    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

To  return  to  Tawakkul  Beg.  He  had  now  been 
initiated  as  a  darwish  into  the  Qadirite  order,  and 
might  have  passed  the  rest  of  his  life  in  a  cloister,  or 
as  a  wandering  ascetic.  But  no  such  vows  hold  the 
darwish  back  from  return  to  the  world  as  are  binding 
in  the  monastic  orders  of  the  Roman  church.  And 
so,  on  his  father's  petition,  addressed  to  Molla- 
Shah,  Tawakkul  Beg  went  back  into  the  world,  and 
passed  ten  years  in  the  service  of  the  state;  yet  not, 
as  one  might  imagine,  in  any  peaceful  capacity,  but 
as  a  soldier.  Again  he  returned  to  his  master,  and 
spent  more  than  a  year  with  him,  who,  thereafter, 
again  dismissed  him,  telling  him  that  his  profession 
was  that  of  arms,  and  giving  him  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  Prince  Dara  Shukoh,  son  of  Shah  Jahan. 
With  him  he  must  have  passed  through  the  troublous 
days  of  the  contest  for  the  empire  in  the  last  years 
of  Shah  Jahan' s  life,  when  Aurangzib  swung  himself 
to  power  and  Dara  Shukoh  went  down  to  absolute 
ruin  and  death. 

But  these  changes  have  left  no  reflection  in  the 
story  of  Molla-Shah's  influence  as  retold  by  von 
Kjremer.  The  only  danger  for  him  seems  to  have 
lain  in  the  incautious  utterances,  from  time  to  time, 
of  his  disciples.  These  sometimes  proclaimed  too 
openly  the  doctrine  of  the  absolute  unity,  and  were 
naturally  accused  of  heresy,  or  they  carried  out  too 
logically  its  consequences,  and  neglected  their  ritual 
and  even  their  moral  duties.     Islam  has  generally 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    203 

shown  itself  strangely  tolerant  toward  both  of  these 
deviations;  and,  indeed,  will  permit  anyone  to  say 
and  do  almost  anything  he  pleases,  if  he  only  shows 
signs  of  clear  religious  frenzy.  That  we  have 
already  seen  formally  laid  down  by  Ibn  Khaldun." 
But  occasionally  the  Muslim  conscience  becomes 
excited,  or  there  is  a  scrupulous  ruler  who  takes  his 
position  seriously,  and  then  there  is  danger  for  free- 
thinkers and  free-livers.  Once,  at  least,  Molla-Shah 
was  saved  from  imminent  danger  by  the  friendship 
of  Prince  Dara  Shukoh,  and  on  another  occasion 
he  had  to  temporize  with  Aurangzib. 

Descriptions  are  given  by  Tawakkul  Beg  of  two 
other  such  hypnotic  initiations,  but  they  add  litde  to 
Tawakkul's  own  narrative.  One  was  that  of  Dara 
Shukoh  himself,  who  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in 
prevailing  on  Molla-Shah  to  operate  on  him.  Another 
was  that  of  Fatima,  a  sister  of  Dara  Shukoh,  who 
had  a  long  correspondence  with  the  master;  was 
initiated  by  her  brother  acting  for  him;  passed 
through  all  the  normal  visions;  and  attained  to  pure 
union  with  God  and  intuitive  perception.  Molla- 
Shah  said  of  her,  ''She  has  attained  to  so  extraordi- 
nary a  development  of  the  mystical  knowledge  that 
she  is  worthy  of  being  my  representative." 

She  thus  describes  some  of  her  experiences: 

I  seated  myself,  then,  in  a  corner  with  my  face  turned 
toward  Mecca,  and  concentrated  all  my  mind  on  the  image 

I  Cf.  p.  173- 


204    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

of  the  master,  calling  up,  at  the  same  time,  in  my  imagination, 
the  personal  description  of  our  most  holy  Prophet.  Occupied 
with  this  contemplation,  I  arrived  at  a  state  of  soul  in  which  I 
neither  slept  nor  waked,  and  then  I  saw  the  holy  company  of 
the  Prophet  and  of  his  first  adherents,  with  the  other  saints. 
The  Prophet  and  his  four  friends  [Abu  Bakr,  <^Umar,  "^Uthman, 
and  <^AlI]  were  seated  together,  and  a  certain  number  of  the 
principal  Companions  surrounded  him,  I  perceived  also 
Molla-Shah;  he  was  seated  near  the  Prophet,  upon  whose 
foot  his  head  lay,  while  the  Prophet  said  to  him,  "O  Molla- 
Shah,  for  what  reason  did  you  illumine  that  Timurid?" 

When  my  senses  had  returned  to  me,  my  heart,  under  the 
impression  of  this  distinguished  sign  of  the  divine  favor, 
bloomed  like  a  bed  of  roses,  and  I  prostrated  myself,  full  of 
boundless  gratitude,  before  the  throne  of  the  absolute  Being. 
Filled  with  unutterable  happiness,  I  did  not  know  what  to 
do  to  express  all  the  joy  of  my  heart.  I  vowed  a  blind  obe- 
dience to  the  master,  and  I  chose  him,  once  for  all,  as  my 
spiritual  guide,  saying,  "O  how  signal  a  happiness!  What 
an  unheard  of  felicity  has  been  given  to  me — to  me,  a  feeble 
and  unworthy  woman!  I  render  thanks  and  praises  for  it 
without  end,  to  the  All-powerful,  to  the  incomprehensible  God, 
who,  when  it  seemed  that  my  life  must  pass  uselessly,  per- 
mitted me  to  give  myself  to  the  search  for  him,  and  accorded 
to  me,  thereafter,  to  attain  the  desired  end  of  union  with  him, 
giving  me  thus  to  drink  of  the  ocean  of  truth  and  the  fountain 
of  mystical  knowledge.  I  nourish  the  hope  that  God  will  per- 
mit me  to  walk  with  a  firm  step  and  unshakable  courage  on 
this  path  which  is  comparable  to  the  Sirdt  [here  the  narrow 
bridge  to  Paradise]  and  that  my  soul  will  always  taste  the 
supreme  happiness  of  being  able  to  think  of  him.  God  be 
praised,  who,  through  the  particular  attention  of  the  holy 
master,  has  accorded  to  me,  a  poor  woman,  the  gift  of  con- 
ceiving, in  the  most  complete  manner,  of  the  absolute  Being, 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    205 

as  I  have  always  ardently  desired.  Whoever  does  not  possess 
the  knowledge  of  the  absolute  Being  is  not  a  man — he  belongs 
to  those  of  whom  it  is  said,  'They  are  as  the  brutes,  and 
more  ignorant  still.' ^  Every  man  who  has  attained  this 
supreme  felicity  becomes,  through  this  fact  itself,  the  most 
accomplished  and  the  most  noble  of  beings,  and  his  individual 
existence  is  lost  in  the  absolute  existence;  he  becomes  like  a 
drop  in  the  ocean,  a  mote  in  the  sunshine,  an  atom  over  against 
totality.  Arrived  in  this  state,  he  is  above  death,  future 
punishment,  the  Garden,  and  the  Fire.  Whether  he  is  man 
or  woman,  he  is  always  the  most  perfect  human  being.  This 
is  a  favor  of  God  who  dispenses  it  to  whomsoever  it  seems  to 
him  good.  The  poet  ^Attar  has  said  of  Rabija,  'This  is  not  a 
woman  but  a  man,  absorbed  as  she  is  by  the  love  of  God.'  " 

You  will  now,  I  think,  understand  how  there  are 
women  saints  in  Islam.  In  the  ecstatic  religious 
life  only  does  the  difference  between  the  man  and 
the  woman  drop  away;  both  are  simply  human  beings 
before  their  God.  In  that  presence  they  are  equal  in 
virtue  of  the  common  human  nature,  though  the 
woman  can  inherit  only  half  that  a  man  can,  and 
can  never  divorce  her  husband.  The  distinction 
even  of  Roman  Christendom,  as  I  have  pointed  out 
above,  that  a  woman  cannot  be  a  priest,  does  not 
exist  for  Islam.  The  relation  between  the  princess 
Fatima  and  MoUa-Shah  was  only  that  between  pupil 
and  teacher. 

It  would  be  easy  to  go  on  almost  indefinitely  with 
concrete  examples  of  the  mystical  life;  or,  for  it  is 
the  same  thing,  the  devotional  attitude  in  Islam. 

I  Qur.  vii,  178. 


2o6    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

But  I  will  come  down  now  to  quite  modern  times  and 
to  a  European  observer.  Edward  William  Lane, 
during  his  long  residence  in  Cairo,  entered  as  fully 
as  any  non-Muslim  has  ever  done  into  the  life  and 
ideas  of  the  people.  In  one  of  the  notes  to  his 
Arabian  Nights,^  he  gives  the  following  account 
of  a  Cairo  friend,  and  it  will  serve  as  an  example 
of  another  type  of  the  Muslim  mystic,  the  wandering 
ascetic : 

One  of  my  friends  in  Cairo,  Abu-1-Kasim  of  Geeldn,  men- 
tioned in  a  former  note,  entertained  me  with  a  long  relation 
of  the  mortifications  and  other  means  which  he  employed 
to  attain  the  rank  of  a  welee.  These  were  chiefly  self-denial 
and  a  perfect  reliance  upon  Providence.  He  left  his  home 
in  a  state  of  voluntary  destitution  and  complete  nudity,  to 
travel  through  Persia  and  the  surrounding  countries,  and  yet 
more  distant  regions  if  necessary,  in  search  of  a  spiritual 
guide.  For  many  days  he  avoided  the  habitations  of  men, 
fasting  from  daybreak  till  sunset,  and  then  eating  nothing  but 
a  little  grass  or  a  few  leaves  or  wild  fruits,  till  by  degrees  he 
habituated  himself  to  almost  total  abstinence  from  every 
kind  of  nourishment.  His  feet,  at  first  blistered  and  cut  by 
hard  stones,  soon  became  callous;  and  in  proportion  to  his 
reduction  of  food,  his  frame,  contrary  to  the  common  course 
of  nature,  became  (according  to  his  own  account)  more  stout 
and  lusty.  Bronzed  by  the  sun,  and  with  his  black  hair 
hanging  over  his  shoulders  (for  he  had  abjured  the  use  of 
the  razor),  he  presented,  in  his  nudity,  a  wild  and  frightful 
appearance;  and  on  his  first  approaching  a  town,  was  sur- 
rounded and  pelted  by  a  crowd  of  boys;  he  therefore 
retreated,  and,  after  the  example  of  our  first  parents,  made 

I  Vol.  I,  p.   210. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    207 

himself  a  partial  covering  of  leaves;  and  this  he  always  after 
did  on  similar  occasions;  never  remaining  long  enough  in  a 
town  for  his  leafy  apron  to  wither.  The  abodes  of  mankind 
he  always  passed  at  a  distance,  excepting  when  several  days' 
fast,  while  traveling  an  arid  desert,  compelled  him  to  obtain 
a  morsel  of  bread  or  a  cup  of  water  from  the  hand  of  some 
charitable  fellow-creature.  One  thing  that  he  particularly 
dreaded  was,  to  receive  relief  from  a  sinful  man,  or  from  a 
demon  in  the  human  form.  In  passing  over  a  parched  and 
desolate  tract,  where  for  three  days  he  had  found  nothing  to 
eat,  not  even  a  blade  of  grass,  nor  a  spring  from  which  to 
refresh  his  tongue,  he  became  overpowered  with  thirst,  and 
prayed  that  God  would  send  him  a  messenger  with  a  pitcher  of 
water.  "But,"  said  he,  ''let  the  water  be  in  a  green  Bagh- 
dadee  pitcher,  that  I  may  know  it  [to]  be  from  thee,  and  not  from 
the  devil;  and  when  I  ask  the  bearer  to  give  me  to  drink,  let 
him  pour  it  over  my  head,  that  I  may  not  too  much  gratify 
my  carnal  desire."  "I  looked  behind  me,"  he  continued, 
"and  saw  a  man  bearing  a  green  Baghdad ee  pitcher  of  water, 
and  said  to  him,  'Give  me  to  drink;'  and  he  came  up  to  me 
and  poured  the  contents  over  my  head,  and  departed!  By 
Allah  it  was  so!"  Rejoicing  in  this  miracle,  as  a  proof  of  his 
having  attained  to  a  degree  of  wildyeh  (or  saintship),  and 
refreshed  by  the  water,  he  continued  his  way  over  the  desert, 
more  firm  than  ever  in  his  course  of  self-denial,  which,  though 
imperfectly  followed,  had  been  the  means  of  his  being  thus 
distinguished.  But  the  burning  thirst  returned  shortly  after, 
and  he  felt  himself  sinking  under  it,  when  he  beheld  before 
him  a  high  hill,  with  a  rivulet  running  by  its  base.  To  the 
summit  of  this  hill  he  determined  to  ascend,  by  way  of  morti- 
fication, before  he  would  taste  the  water,  and  this  point,  with 
much  difficulty,  he  reached  at  the  close  of  the  day.  Here 
standing,  he  saw  approaching,  below,  a  troop  of  horsemen, 
who  paused  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  when  their  chief,  who  was 


2o8    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

foremost,   called  out  to  him  by  name,   "O   Abu-1-Kasim! 
O  Geelanee!     Come  down  and  drink!"  but,  persuaded  by 
this  that  he  was  Iblees  with  a  troop  of  his  sons,  the  evil  genii, 
he  withstood  the  temptation,  and  remained  stationary  until 
the  deceiver  with  his  attendants  had  passed  on,  and  were  out 
of  sight.     The  sun  had  then  set;    his  thirst  had  somewhat 
abated;    and  he  only  drank  a  few  drops.     Continuing  his 
wanderings  in  the  desert,  he  found,  upon  a  pebbly  plain,  an 
old  man  with  a  long  white  beard,  who  accosted  him,  asking 
him  of  what  he  was  in  search.     "I  am  seeking,"  he  answered, 
"a  spiritual  guide;   and  my  heart  tells  me  that  thou  art  the 
guide  I  seek."     ''My  son,"  said  the  old  man,  ''thou  seest 
yonder  a  saint's  tomb;  it  is  a  place  where  prayer  is  answered; 
go  thither,  enter  it,  and  seat  thyself,  neither  eat  nor  drink  nor 
sleep;  but  occupy  thyself  solely,  day  and  night,  in  repeating 
silently,  'Ld  ildha  illa-lldh'  [there  is  no  deity  but  God];  and 
let  not  any  living  creature  see  thy  lips  move  in  doing  so;  for 
among  the  peculiar  virtues  of  these  words  is  this,  that  they 
may  be  uttered  without  any  motion  of  the  lips.      Go,  and 
peace  be  on  thee."     "Accordingly,"  said  my  friend,  "I  went 
thither.     It  was  a  small  square  building,  crowned  by  a  cupola; 
and  the  door  was  open.     I  entered,  and  seated  myself,  facing 
the  niche,  and  the  oblong  monument  over  the  grave.     It  was 
evening,  and  I  commenced  my  silent  professions  of  the  Unity, 
as  directed  by  my  guide;   and  at  dusk  I  saw  a  white  figure 
seated  beside  me,  as  if  assisting  in  my  devotional  task.     I 
stretched  forth  my  hand  to  touch  it;    but  found  that  it  was 
not  a  material  substance,  yet  there  it  was;   I  saw  it  distincdy. 
Encouraged  by  this  vision,  I  continued  my  task  for  three 
nights   and   days   without   intermission,    neither   eating   nor 
drinking,  yet  increasing  in  strength  both  of  body  and  spirit; 
and  on  the  third  day,  I  saw  written  upon  the  whitewashed 
walls  of  the  tomb,  and  on  the  ground,  and  in  the  air,  wherever 
I  turned  my  eyes,  'Ld  ildha  illa-lldh;^    and  whenever  a  fly 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    209 

entered  the  tomb,  it  formed  these  words  in  its  flight.  By 
Allah  it  was  so !  My  object  was  now  fully  attained;  I  felt  myself 
endowed  with  supernatural  knowledge :  thoughts  of  my  friends 
and  acquaintances  troubled  me  not;  but  I  knew  where  each 
of  them  was,  in  Persia,  India,  Arabia,  and  Turkey,  and  what 
each  was  doing.  I  experienced  an  indescribable  happiness. 
This  state  lasted  several  years;  but  at  length  I  was  insensibly 
enticed  back  to  worldly  objects;  I  came  to  this  country;  my 
fame  as  a  caligraphist  drew  me  into  the  service  of  the  govern- 
ment; and  now  see  what  I  am,  decked  with  pelisses  and 
shawls,  and  with  this  thing  [a  diamond  order]  on  my  breast; 
too  old,  I  fear,  to  undergo  again  the  self-denial  necessary  to 
restore  me  to  true  happiness,  though  I  have  almost  resolved 
to  make  the  attempt."  Soon  after  this  conversation,  he  was 
deprived  of  his  office,  and  died  of  the  plague.  He  was  well 
known  to  have  passed  several  years  as  a  wandering  devotee; 
and  his  sufferings,  combined  with  enthusiasm,  perhaps 
disordered  his  imagination,  and  made  him  believe  that  he 
really  saw  the  strange  sights  which  he  described  to  me;  for 
there  was  an  appearance  of  earnestness  and  sincerity  in  his 
manner,  such  as  I  thought  could  hardly  be  assumed  by  a 
conscious  imposter. 

Here  is,  again,  another  example  given  by  Lane  in 
the  same  place : 

A  reputed  saint  of  this  description,  in  Cairo,  in  whom 
persons  of  some  education  put  great  faith,  affected  to  have 
a  particular  regard  for  me.  He  several  times  accosted  me  in 
an  abrupt  manner,  acquainted  me  with  the  state  of  my  family 
in  England,  and  uttered  incoherent  predictions  respecting 
me,  all  of  which  communications,  excepting  one  which  he 
qualified  with  an  "in  shda-lldh"  [or,  "if  it  be  the  will  of 
God"],  I  must  confess  proved  to  be  true;  but  I  must  also  state 
that  he  was  acquainted  with  two  of  my  friends  who  might 


2IO    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

have  materially  assisted  him  to  frame  these  predictions, 
though  they  protested  to  me  that  they  had  not  done  so.  The 
following  extract  from  a  journal  which  I  kept  in  Cairo  during 
my  second  visit  to  Egypt,  will  convey  some  idea  of  this  person, 
who  will  serve  as  a  picture  of  many  of  his  fraternity.  Today 
[November  6,  1834],  as  I  was  sitting  in  the  shop  of  the  Bdsha's 
book-sellers,  a  reputed  saint,  whom  I  have  often  seen  here, 
came  and  seated  himself  by  me,  and  began,  in  a  series  of 
abrupt  sentences,  to  relate  to  me  various  matters  respecting 
me,  past,  present,  and  to  come.  He  is  called  the  sheykh 
=Alee  El-Leysee.  He  is  a  poor  man,  supported  by  alms; 
tall  and  thin  and  very  dark,  about  thirty  years  of  age,  and 
wears  nothing  at  present,  but  a  blue  shirt  and  a  girdle,  and  a 
padded  red  cap.  '*0  Effendee"  he  said,  "thou  hast  been 
very  anxious  for  some  days.  There  is  a  grain  of  anxiety 
remaining  in  thee  yet.  Do  not  fear.  There  is  a  letter  coming 
to  thee  by  sea  that  will  bring  thee  good  news."  He  then 
proceeded  to  tell  me  of  the  state  of  my  family,  and  that  all 
were  well  excepting  one,  whom  he  particularized  by  descrip- 
tion, and  who  he  stated  to  be  then  suffering  from  an  inter- 
mittent fever.  [This  proved  to  be  exactly  true.]  "This 
affliction,"  he  continued,  "may  be  removed  by  prayer;  and 
the  excellences  of  the  next  night,  the  night  of  [i.  e.,  preceding] 
the  first  Friday  of  the  month  of  Regeb,  of  Regeb,  the  holy 
Regeb,  are  very  great.  I  wanted  to  ask  thee  for  something 
today;  but  I  feared;  I  feared  greatly.  Thou  must  be 
invested  with  the  wildyeh  [i.  e.,  be  made  a  welee];  the  welees 
love  thee;  and  the  Prophet  loves  thee.  Thou  must  go  to 
the  sheykh  Mustafa  El-Munadee,  and  the  sheykh  El-Bahdee. 
Thou  must  be  a  welee."  He  then  took  my  right  hand,  in  a 
manner  commonly  practiced  in  the  ceremony  which  admits 
a  person  a  darweesh,  and  repeated  the  Fatehah  (commonly 
pronounced  Fdt-hah) ;  after  w^hich  he  added,  "I  have  admitted 
thee,  my  darweesh."    Having  next  told  me  of  several  circum- 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    211 

stances  relating  to  my  family — matters  of  an  unusual  nature — 
with  singular  minuteness  and  truth,  he  added,  "Tonight,  if 
it  be  the  will  of  God,  thou  shalt  see  the  Prophet  in  thy  sleep, 
and  El-Khidr  and  the  seyyid  El-Bedawee.  This  is  Regeb, 
and  I  wanted  to  ask  of  thee, — but  I  feared^I  wanted  to  ask 
of  thee  four  piastres,  to  buy  meat  and  bread  and  oil  and  rad- 
ishes. Regeb!  Regeb!  I  have  great  offices  to  do  for  thee  to- 
night." Less  than  a  shilling  for  all  that  he  promised  was  little 
enough.  I  gave  it  him  for  the  trouble  he  had  taken;  and  he 
uttered  many  abrupt  prayers  for  me.  In  the  following  night, 
however,  I  saw  in  my  sleep  neither  Mohammed  nor  El-Khidr 
nor  the  seyyid  El-Bedawee,  unless,  like  Nebuchadnezzar,  I 
was  unable,  on  awaking,  to  remember  my  dreams. 

I  must  now  draw  toward  a  close  on  the  saintly 
life.  Let  me,  then,  return  to  the  thesis  with  which  I 
started  and  sum  up  our  results.  These,  of  necessity, 
are  very  fragmentary  and  very  incomplete,  and  can 
be  regarded  only  as  opening  a  vista  and  suggesting 
its  possibilities.  Consider  that  down  that  vista  all 
the  religious  life  of  all  the  Muslim  peoples  has 
poured  for  thirteen  centuries,  and  you  will  realize 
how  ridiculously  inadequate  a  few  lectures  must 
necessarily  be.  I  believe  that,  in  the  broad,  I  have 
touched  the  true  keynotes  and,  in  the  details,  have 
given  what  is  generally  characteristic  only,  but 
more  I  cannot  say.  Ridiculous  inadequacy,  I  repeat, 
is  the  only  expression. 

But  to  the  results.  The  reality,  for  the  Muslim, 
of  the  background  of  the  Unseen  is  now  before  you, 
of  that  unknown  spiritual  order  from  which  his  life 
has  come,  which  it  constantly  touches,  and  to  which 


212    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

it  will  return.  I  have  spoken  of  that  background 
hitherto  as  the  Unseen  simply,  and  have  not,  so  far, 
taken  in  its  being  an  unseen  order,  as  Mr.  WilHam 
James  expresses  it.  So  we  must  now  ask  to  what 
extent  the  Muslim  regarded,  and  regards,  that 
world  beyond  the  pale  as  an  ordered  world,  a  world 
subject  to  laws  at  which  he  may  dimly  grasp  and  a 
world  dependable  in  its  actions  and  reactions.  The 
Muslim,  it  is  true,  takes  life  bit  by  bit,  but  can  he 
be  sure  that  he  can  take  hold  of  the  right  bit  and  in 
the  right  way,  with  regard  to  this  unseen  back- 
ground ?  He  may  not  have  any  very  definite  sense 
of  law;  but  can  he  be  sure  that  all  his  ethical  con- 
ceptions will  not  be  upset  tomorrow,  by  some  voice 
out  of  the  darkness? 

This  question  tends  to  be  much  more  one  of  dog- 
matic theology  than  of  the  religious  psychology 
with  which  we  are  now  engaged.  Yet  some  attempt 
at  it  we  must  make.  First,  then,  the  idea  that  behind 
the  curtain  there  is  at  work  an  absolute,  inflexible 
law,  the  same  yesterday,  today,  and  for  ever,  must, 
for  the  enormous  mass  of  Islam,  be  set  aside.  Only 
the  few  scattered,  and  steadily  dwindling  philoso- 
phers ever  held  such  a  view.  Their  basis  was  the 
Aristotelian  conception  of  law,  shot,  it  is  true,  with 
warmer  fervors  from  the  ecstasies  of  Plotinus,  but 
still  law.  Personalities,  the  Active  Intellect  and  the 
Spirits  of  the  Spheres  were  in  that  law — were  that 
law — ^but  dominant,  over  and  through  them,  was 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    213 

the  conception  of  the  great  mechanical  animal  of 
the  universe  and  its  law. 

Yet  such  philosophers  and  their  disciples  were  a 
vanishing,  and  now  are  a  vanished  fraction  in  the 
Muslim  world.  At  the  opposite  extreme  from  them 
is  the  old  Muslim  position— still  the  half -unconscious 
view  of  the  great  mass — that  over  all  is  Allah,  and 
that  all  hangs  on  his  personal  will.  An  extreme 
school  of  scholastics  has  reduced  this  to  a  theory  of 
the  universe,  in  which  the  universe,  as  a  whole  and 
in  details,  is  being  constantly  recreated  by  Allah, 
from  moment  to  moment,  as  he  at  such  moment 
wills.  It  is  will  and  not  law  that  is  behind  our 
world.  On  this  view,  no  ethical  theory  of  science 
is  possible.  All  that  can  be  sought  is  the  will  of 
Allah  on  the  case,  as  it  is  supernaturally  revealed. 

Yet  it  is  admitted  that  there  is  a  certain  unity 
in  that  so  revealed  will  corresponding  to  the  unity 
which  must  lie  in  the  mind  of  Allah.  We  may  be 
fairly  sure  that  our  ethical  imperatives  will  stand; 
they  will  stand  because  they  are  imperatives,  com- 
mands from  the  will  of  Allah.  Between  these  two 
dogmatic  and  rationalistic  extremes  lie  the  various 
mystical  conceptions.  He  who  has  seen  God,  he 
knows  him,  trusts  him,  depends  on  him;  and  that 
is  enough.  He  does  not  reason  about  law  or  per- 
sonality; these  have  melted  together  in  the  vision  of 
the  inner  life.  Order  in  the  unseen  world,  then,  for 
the  mass  of  Muslims,  means  either  the  accepted  will 


214    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

of  God  or  the  assurance  of  his  personality.  In  one 
way  or  another  it  is  for  man  to  learn  that  will  and 
to  put  himself  under  the  control  of  that  personal- 
ity. In  harmonious  adjustment  thereto  lies  man's 
supreme  good;  his  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God  and 
enjoy  him  forever. 

The  pathways  to  that  knowledge  and  intercourse 
are  now  before  you.  The  distrust  of  reason,  save 
as  a  tutor  to  bring  the  soul  to  the  Prophet  or  his  like; 
the  frank  agnosticism,  so  far  as  reason  is  concerned ; 
the  equally  frank  supernaturalism  and  dependence 
on  extra-rational  guides;  all  these  are  plain.  The 
prophet,  the  soothsayer,  the  dreamer,  the  wizard, 
the  familiar  spirit,  the  saint,  have  all  their  place  in 
the  scheme.  Prophecy,  dreaming,  sainthood  are 
the  lawful  and  accepted  means  by  which  man  may 
know  God.  Prophecy  is  historical.  The  prophets 
are  all  gone,  and  none  will  now  come  until  Arma- 
geddon and  the  millenium  draw  nigh.  The  guidance 
of  dreaming  is  open  to  every  man.  So,  too,  the 
varied  ranks  of  sainthood,  from  the  humblest  dar- 
wish  to  the  Axis  himself,  the  saintly  vicegerent  of 
God  on  earth. 

Further,  the  path  of  the  mystic  is  the  path  of  the 
religious  life,  and  to  that  in  detail  we  must  now 
turn.  The  preceding  narratives  must  have  already 
suggested  to  you  its  course  and  methods.  One 
inevitable  question,  however,  I  must  here  meet, 
however  briefly.     The   types  of  the  religious  life 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    215 

among  us  are  numerous  and  among  them  the  ascetic, 
emotional,  ecstatic,  play  a  comparatively  small  part. 
Does  all  the  religious  life  of  Islam  move  in  those 
paths;    or  are  there  others  which  should  fairly  be 
taken  into  account  ?    The  reply  need  not  be  long. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  some  minor  and  opposed 
drifts,  but  they  may  fairly  be  disregarded.      First, 
the  canon  lawyers  still  feel  that  in  their  studies  sal- 
vation may  be  found  and,  like  the  Pharisees,  they 
emphasize  the  importance  of  a  scrupulous  observance 
of  the  ritual  law.    But  while  the  masses  respect  them, 
the  people  can  hardly  be  expected  to  find  in  legal 
subtleties   satisfaction   for   their   religious  cravings. 
Secondly,  the  puritan  element  of  the  Wahhabites  has 
always  denounced  the  mystical  attitudes  and  the  rev- 
erence for  saints,  and  has  sought  to  lead  Islam  back 
to  the  supposedly  simple  monotheism  of  Muhammad. 
But  their  power  is  fast  waning  and  has  lost  the  re- 
forming energy  which  it  at  first  showed.     Thirdly, 
there  may  be  some  small  remains  of  philosophical 
speculation   concealing  itself  behind    Sufiism;    but 
that  does  not  affect  the  masses.    Practically,  the  con- 
ception of  the  mystical,  saintly  life  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  darwish  fraternities  cover  all  Islam  and  are 
the  stimulants  and  vehicles  of  Muslim  piety.     The 
religious  institutions  tend  to  foster  this.     Above  all, 
comes    the   pilgrimage   to    Mecca   and    the    many 
imitation  pilgrimages  all  over  the  Muslim  lands,  to 
the    tombs   of   celebrated    saints.     These    are    the 


2i6    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

scenes  of  orgasms  of  ecstatic  emotion  comparable 
in  many  ways  to  those  at  negro  camp-meetings. 
Here,  for  example,  is  an  incident  and  a  meditation 
thereon  from  a  recent  book,  With  the  Pilgrims  to 
Mecca  (London,  1905),  which  professes  to  be  written 
by  a  Persian  Muslim  who  had  been  educated  in 
England.  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  statement, 
although  the  pilgrim's  Arabic  is  of  the  queerest, 
and  he  makes  distinct  slips  in  his  law  and  theology. 
The  scene  itself  shows  clear  marks  of  psychological 
truth  and  autobiographic  value: 

While  I  was  admiring  the  unpretentious  grace  of  the  holy 
shrine,  and  meditating  from  its  threshold  on  the  golden  age 
of  Isldm,  my  guide  broke  in  on  my  thoughts,  saying,  "You 
are  allowed  to  make  two  prostrations  at  the  base  of  any  one 
of  the  pillars.  Let  me  advise  you,  in  the  welfare  of  your  im- 
mortal soul,  to  choose  the  one  facing  the  Black  Stone  outside, 
which  is  the  most  sacred  spot  under  the  canopy  of  heaven." 
The  difficulty  was  to  force  my  way  thither.  The  whole  house 
was  packed  with  pilgrims.  Some  were  praying,  some  were 
weeping,  others  were  groaning  or  beating  their  chests,  and 
all — except  the  Bedouins — were  clad  in  their  sacred  habits. 
A  great  awe  fell  on  me.  It  was  as  though  the  graves  had 
yielded  up  their  dead  at  the  blast  of  Israfil's  trumpet.  All 
eyes  were  blind,  all  ears  deaf.  The  thought  of  home,  of 
country,  of  wife,  and  child  seemed  drowned  in  a  sea  of  pas- 
sionate devotion  to  the  creator  of  those  human  blessings. 
And  from  outside,  in  the  Harem,  there  arose  the  chant  of  the 
Talbih,  which  every  pilgrim  must  sing  on  sighting  Mecca, 
on  donning  the  Ihram,  on  entering  the  Harem,  on  starting 
for  the  Valley  of  Desire  and  the  Mountain  of  Compassion,  and 
on  performing  the  little  pilgrimage  of  Omreh.    I  paused  in 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    217 

the  effort  to  reach  the  southern  pillar,  and  listened  to  the 
singing  from  without: 

Labbaik,  AUahomma,  Labbaik! 

Labbaik,  la  Sherika  lak  Labbaik! 

Labbaik,  enal-hamda,  Vanahmeta  lak  Labbaik! 

Labbaik,  la  Sherika  lak  Labbaik! 

(Verily,  here  am  I!  O  Allah,  here  I  am! 
Verily,  here  am  I!    O  Allah,  thou  hast  no  mate! 
Verily,  here  am  I,  O  Allah!   All  praise  and  glory  to  thee! 
Verily,  here  am  I !   O  Allah,  thou  hast  no  mate !) 

On  my  soul,  it  was  fine !  All  my  senses  must  have  deserted 
me.  I  must  have  lost  all  consciousness  of  self  suddenly. 
The  burden  of  existence  seemed  to  be  lifted.  If  I  did  not 
actually  slip  off  the  slough  of  the  flesh  I  came  to  realize  in  a 
flash  that  the  soul  is  immortal.  These  introspective  thoughts 
were  not  mine  at  the  moment  of  the  transformation.  They 
were  retrospective,  forced  on  me,  when,  on  coming  back  to  a 
sense  of  my  surroundings,  I  found  myself  kneeling  at  the 
Door  of  Repentance,  and  heard  myself  crying,  "Labbaik,  la 
Sherika  lak  Labbaik.'^  Yes;  there  was  I — "an  agnostic  who 
would  like  to  know" — rubbing  my  brow  on  the  marble  floor 
of  the  Kabbah,  without  the  dimmest  notion  in  my  mind  as  to 
how  I  came  to  be  there.  Only  a  month  before,  I  had  been 
sipping  lemon  squash  in  a  London  restaurant.  Strange. 
The  first  thing  I  did  was  to  look  round  in  search  of  my  guide, 
as  skeptical  a  rascal  as  ever  breathed.  He  was  on  his  knees, 
at  my  side,  his  eyes  starting  out  of  the  sockets.  I  put  my 
hand  on  his  shoulder.  *'Come,"  I  said,  "let  us  go  out.  I 
am  suffocating."  He  rose  to  his  feet,  looking  scared  and 
abashed;  but  his  face  assumed  its  usual  expression  of  sunny 
mirth  on  reaching  the  Harem.  He  put  his  tongue  in  his 
cheek  as  of  yore;  then,  repenting  him  of  his  unregenerate 
mood,  he  told  the  truth.  "Yd-Moulai  (Oh,  sir),"  said  he, 
"within  the  house  so  great  reverence  fell  on  me  that  I  did 


2i8    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

hardly  think  of  the  blessed  houris  and  peris  promised  to  me 
in  paradise.  The  same  emotion  overmasters  me  every  year 
on  entering  the  Kabbah  of  Allah,  and  yet  what  does  it  all 
mean?  What  is  the  value  of  this  dream  which  we  call  life, 
and  which  is  my  true  self  ?  Is  it  the  self  that  inquires,  scoffs, 
doubts,  but  wants  to  find  the  truth  ?  Or  is  it  the  self  that  you 
discovered  a  moment  ago  bereft  of  every  sense  save  one, 
namely,  that  which  would  seem  to  have  drawn  me  irresistibly 
to  a  power  whose  will  none  would  seem  to  be  able  to  dispute  ? 
Has  that  power  an  existence  outside  of  my  emotions,  or  is  it 
merely  the  fabric  of  my  senses  ?  You  are  silent,  Yd-Moulai. 
Well,  there  are  more  ways  of  getting  drunk  than  by  drinking 
of  the  juice  of  the  forbidden  fruit.  I  escaped  from  myself, 
just  then,  on  a  spiritual  rather  than  a  spirituous  fluid.  Let 
us  return  to  our  camp."^ 

This  last  piece  of  comment,  of  course,  bears  signs 
of  manufacture;  but  the  emotional  outburst  is 
evidently  genuine,  and  gives  a  true  picture  of  how 
the  pilgrimage  ceremonial,  and  especially  the  hoary 
sanctity  of  the  Kabbah  affects  the  pilgrim.  And  the 
same  scenes  are  being  repeated  at  saintly  shrines  over 
the  Muslim  world. 

It  is,  then,  as  I  have  already  suggested  several 
times,  with  Roman  rather  than  Protestant  Christen- 
dom that  Islam  must  be  compared  as  to  its  emotional 
life.  There  the  likeness  is  singularly  close,  reaching 
down  even  to  the  Ghazzalian  combination  of  philo- 
sophical agnosticism  and  supernatural  faith.  And 
for  this  theological  likeness  there  is  good  ground. 
Almost  certainly,  Thomas  Aquinas  was  deeply  influ- 

I  Hadji  Khan,  With  the  Pilgrims  to  Mecca,  p.  170. 


THE  ASCETIC-ECSTATIC  LIFE  IN  ISLAM    219 

enced,  though  indirectly,  by  al-Ghazzall's  views;  and 
he,  in  his  turn,  has  molded  the  Roman  theology. 
That  the  rules  and  attitudes  of  one  order  at  least, 
that  of  the  Jesuits,  were  similarly  affected  by  the 
Muslim  fraternities  and  especially  by  the  doctrine 
of  the  relationship  of  shaykh  and  disciple,  seems 
certain.  ''Let  the  disciple  in  the  hands  of  his 
teacher  be  like  a  dead  body,"  is  the  metaphor  used 
by  both. 

If  you  consider,  then,  how  in  the  Roman  com- 
munion the  reHgious  life,  almost  necessarily,  con- 
nects itself  in  some  way  or  degree  with  an  order,  and 
finds  its  support  in  a  mystical  attitude  toward  the 
universe,  the  overwhelming  preponderance  of  such 
institutions  and  attitudes  in  Islam  will  not  appear 
so  strange.  This  parallel  might  be  worked  out  in 
detail;  but  that,  like  so  much  else,  I  must  now  leave 
with  this  mere  touch. 


LECTURE  VIII 

THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER  ON  HIS 

WAY  TO  THE  UNSEEN  AND  THE  NATURE, 

WORKING,  AND  USE  OF  THE  HEART 

I  desire  now  to  put  before  you  a  sketch  of  the 
theory,  and,  to  some  extent,  the  practice  of  the 
discipline  of  the  traveler  on  his  way  to  direct  knowl- 
edge of  the  divine  and  during  his  life  in  it.  We 
have  already  had  narratives  telling  the  story  of  such 
journeys  as  made  by  individuals.  Our  lack  now 
is  of  a  broad  and  philosophizing  generalized  descrip- 
tion.    For  that  I  turn  again  to  al-Ghazzali. 

The  first  half  of  his  great  work,  The  Revivifying 
oj  the  Sciences  oj  Religion,  is  devoted,  as  he  tells  us 
himself/  to  a  consideration  of  what  shows  itself 
externally  in  the  traveler  by  way  of  acts  of  devotion 
and  religious  usage.  Under  these  he  includes  creeds 
and  their  bases,  religious  ritual,  and  the  religious 
manner  of  carrying  out  the  ordinary  operations  of 
life  in  the  broadest.  The  second  half  deals  with 
the  internal  and  hidden  side  of  life,  the  heart  and 
its  workings,  good  and  evil.  Under  it  are  con- 
sidered the  lusts  and  passions,  the  virtues  and  per- 
fections. To  this  second  half,  then,  he  prefixes  an 
introduction   dealing  with   the  wondrous   qualities 

I  Ihya,  edition  with  commentary  of  Sayyid  Murtada,  Vol. 
VII,  pp.  20I  flF. 

220 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      221 

and  nature  of  what  is  called  "the  heart,"  and  with 
the  general  discipline  by  which  it  can  be  directed  and 
purified.  That  done,  he  is  free  to  deal  with  the 
lusts  and  virtues  in  detail. 

But  our  interest  is  with  the  general  subject,  and 
I  shall  therefore  now  put  before  you  al-Ghazzali's 
doctrine  of  the  heart.  I  translate  thus  literally  the 
Arabic  qalh,  but  it  will  be  well  to  notice  that  there 
is  an  essential  difference  of  idea  in  the  derived  uses 
of  qalh  and  "heart."  With  the  EngHsh  "heart," 
when  thus  used,  there  goes  always,  I  think,  the 
conception  of  emotions,  affections,  desires,  senti- 
ments; the  emotional  nature  in  general  is  funda- 
mental and  the  intellectual  has  comparatively  little 
part.  That  cannot  be  said  of  the  Arabic  qalh.  It  is 
far  more  the  seat  of  the  mind,  and  it  approximates 
to  the  English  "heart"  only  in  that  it  suggests  the 
inmost,  most  secret  and  genuine  thoughts,  the  very 
basis  of  man's  intellectual  nature.  In  the  words  of 
a  Muslim  commentator,  it  is  a  "transcendental 
(or  theologic)  subtlety"  {latlja  rahhdniya);  that  is, 
a  fine,  non-material  thing  connected  with  the  unseen 
world.  We  have,  therefore,  to  dismiss  the  idea  that 
"heart,"  so  used,  implies  a  blind  reaching  out  of  the 
affections  toward  the  divine  and  a  submergence  of  the 
intellectual  powers;  it  is  rather  the  bringing  to  bear 
of  another  and  more  trustworthy  and  absolute  organ 
of  the  mind.  But  that  al-Ghazzali  himself  will  now 
make  clear. 


222    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

He  opens  his  statement  with  an  ascription  of 
praise  to  Allah  involving  a  declaration  that  man, 
physically  and  mentally,  is  confused  and  perturbed 
if  he  tries  to  reach  absolute  appreciation  of  God 
while  God  himself  absolutely  apprehends  and  com- 
prehends everything.  What  man  apprehends  of 
God  is  that  he  cannot  absolutely  apprehend  him. 
So  Paul  (Phil.  3 : 2)  felt  that  he  had  rather  been  laid 
hold  of  than  had  himself  laid  hold.  But  man  has 
a  glory  and  excellency  which  distinguishes  him  from 
all  other  created  beings  and  equips  him  for  that 
knowledge  of  God  which  in  this  world  is  his  beauty 
and  perfection  and  in  the  world  to  come  his  equip- 
ment and  store.  This  is  his  ''heart"  in  the  above 
sense.  It  knows  God  and  draws  near  to  God  and 
works  for  God  and  labors  toward  God.  It  reveals 
what  is  with  God ;  it  is  accepted  by  God  when  free 
from  aught  but  him,  and  is  curtained  off  from  God 
when  immersed  in  aught  but  him.  It  is  sought  and 
addressed  and  rebuked  and  punished.  It  is  happy 
when  near  God  and  prospers  when  man  has  purified 
it,  and  is  disappointed  and  miserable  when  man  pol- 
lutes and  corrupts  it.  At  one  time  it  is  obedient  to 
God,  and  then  what  appears  externally  by  way  of 
acts  of  piety  is  from  its  illumination ;  and  at  another 
time  it  is  rebellious  against  God  and  what  appears 
externally  by  way  of  corruption  and  rebellion  is  an 
effect  from  it.  As  it  is  dark  or  bright,  vices  or 
virtues  appear,  for  "a  vessel  drips  with  what  is  in 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      223 

it."  When  a  man  knows  it,  he  knows  himself; 
and  when  he  knows  himself  he  knows  his  Lord; 
and  contrariwise,  if  he  is  ignorant  of  it.  Whoever 
is  ignorant  as  to  his  heart  is  still  more  ignorant  as 
to  everything  else;  and  most  are  thus  ignorant. 
For  "  God  intervenes  between  a  man  and  his  heart'" 
in  such  a  way  as  to  hinder  him  from  observing  God 
and  knowing  his  qualities  and  perceiving  how  he  is 
turned  between  two  of  God's  fingers  and  how,  at  one 
time,  he  lusts  toward  the  lowest  things  and  is  de- 
pressed to  the  region  of  devils  and,  at  another  time, 
is  raised  to  the  loftiest  things  and  mounts  to  the 
world  of  those  angels  who  are  nearest  to  God.  He 
who  does  not  know  his  heart  so  as  to  watch  it  and 
guard  it  and  observe  what  shines  on  it  and  in  it 
from  the  treasures  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  he  is 
of  those  concerning  whom  God  has  said,  "They 
forget  God,  so  he  makes  them  forget  themselves; 
they  are  the  evil-doers."^  So  knowledge  of  the  heart 
and  its  essential  quahties  is  the  root  of  rehgion  and 
the  foundation  of  the  way  of  travelers  thereto. 

It  is,  then,  al-Ghazzali's  purpose  to  expound  the 
wonders  of  the  heart.  He  will  do  it  by  comparisons, 
because  most  intelligences  are  too  dull  to  attain  to 
the  spiritual  world.  By  this,  I  think,  he  means  only 
that  the  terms  he  uses  must  not  be  taken  in  a  literal 
w^ay;   there  are  no  absolute  terms  for  the  things  of 

1  Qur.  viii,  24. 

2  Ibid.y  lix,  19. 


224    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

the  heavenly  kingdom  of  which  he  is  going  to  speak, 
and  human  words  can  only  approximate. 

But  first  some  terms  must  be  defined:  ''Heart'' 
{qalh)  does  not  mean  the  heart  of  flesh  but,  as  we 
have  seen,  a  certain  transcendental  (or  theologic) 
spiritual  subtlety  in  some  connection  with  the  physical 
heart.  It  is  the  essence  of  a  man,  the  part  which 
perceives  and  knows.  How  it  is  connected  with  the 
physical  heart  is  a  very  perplexing  question.  Its 
connection  resembles  the  connection  of  accidents 
with  substances,  or  qualities  with  things  they  qualify, 
or  the  user  of  a  tool  with  the  tool,  or  things  located 
with  their  locus.  Al-Ghazzali  does  not  wish  to  enter 
farther  on  this  for  two  reasons:  (i)  The  question 
belongs  to  speculative  science  rather  than  to  practical, 
which  is  his  present  subject.  The  practice  of  life 
requires  consideration  of  the  qualities  of  this  ''heart," 
not  of  its  essence.  And  (2)  it  is  connected  with  the 
question  of  the  spirit  {riih)  on  which  the  Prophet 
kept  silence;  in  this,  as  in  everything,  it  behooves 
all  Muslims  to  imitate  him.  Yet  the  commentator 
remarks  that  this  "heart"  has  been  called  the  rational 
soul;  that  the  spirit  [ruh)  is  its  inner  part  and  the 
animal  soul  is  its  vehicle. 

As  to  the  use  of  "spirit"  {ruh),  the  second  term, 
a  similar  ambiguity  exists.  On  one  side  it  is  the 
subtle  substance  or  vapor  issuing  from  the  hollow 
of  the  physical  heart,  being  matured  by  its  heat,  and 
spreading  by  means  of  the  arteries  through  the  whole 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      225 

body.  This  physiology,  of  course,  is  pre-Harveyan. 
Al-Ghazzali  compares  it  to  a  lamp  carried  about 
through  a  house,  lighting  it  up.  The  spirit  is  the 
lamp,  and  life  is  the  light  which  it  spreads.  But, 
on  another  side,  the  term  indicates  apparently  much 
the  same  knowing  and  perceiving  subtlety  as  does 
"heart."  Al-Ghazzali  does  not  here  make  clear 
a  distinction.  Further,  as  we  have  seen,  he  regards 
general  discussion  of  the  meaning  of  the  term  as 
unsuitable.  God  himself  has  told  the  Prophet  in 
the  Qur^dn  (xvii,  87)  to  say,  "The  spirit  is  my 
Lord's  affair." 

This,  however,  applies  only  to  the  masses,  those 
who  cannot  think  except  in  terms  of  matter,  or,  if 
they  have  so  far  freed  themselves,  cannot  clear  their 
minds  further  of  the  conception  of  position  in  space. 
Before  such  the  full  doctrine  of  the  spirit  must  not 
be  laid;  they  would  accuse  the  expounder  of  it  of 
claiming  qualities  peculiar  to  the  divine  nature. 
They  do  not  realize  that  the  real  essence  and  differ- 
entia of  the  divine  nature  is  aseity,  existence  through 
itself;  all  other  things  having  only  an  existence  bor- 
rowed from  it.  But  for  those  who  have  realized 
this  the  definition  of  spirit  is  simple.  It  exists  in 
itself,  being  neither  an  accident,  nor  a  material  sub- 
stance, nor  a  thing  bounded;  it  is  not  located  in  a 
place  or  a  direction ;  it  is  not  joined  with  the  human 
body  and  the  world,  nor  separated  therefrom;  it  is 
not  within  the  bodies  of  the  world  {i.  e.,  the  concen- 


226    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

trie  shells  of  the  universe)  and  the  human  body,  nor 
without  them.  All  this  is  part,  also,  of  the  definition 
of  God;  but  he  has  aseity  as  well.  Into  al-Ghaz- 
zali's  arguments  and  illustrations  of  the  possibility 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  substance,  we  need  not 
enter.  His  method,  as  always,  is  to  defend  logically 
the  possibility  of  this  transcendental  fact;  to  illus- 
trate by  physical  analogies  its  workings;  to  base 
its  actuality  upon  revelation;  it  being  always  under- 
stood that  the  fact  itself  is  transcendental  and  can 
be  put  in  human  words  and  presented  to  human 
thought  only  in  images. 

The  spirit  further  comes  into  existence  through  a 
direct  outpouring  {jayd)  from  God  upon  the  embryo 
fitted  to  receive  it.  Upon  an  embryo  so  ready  the 
divine  outpouring  stamps  itself,  as  an  image  does  in 
a  polished  mirror.  All  Muslim  mysticism  is  ridden 
by  the  primitive  feeling  that  there  must  be  some 
entity  in  a  reflection.  It  goes  with  the  problem  of 
the  metaphysical  schoolboy  who  asked  where  the 
figures  went  when  wiped  off  the  slate.  But  the 
term  "outpouring"  must  not  suggest  the  pouring 
of  water  upon  the  hand,  where  there  is  a  separation 
of  part  of  the  water  from  the  pitcher  and  a  joining 
of  it  to  the  hand.  Rather,  it  should  be  imaged  as 
like  the  outpouring  of  the  light  of  the  sun  upon  a 
wall.  In  that  case  there  is  no  separating  in  the 
substance  of  the  sun  and  joining  and  spreading  on 
the  wall.     The  light  of  the  sun  is  only  the  cause 


1/ 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      227 

why  something  similar  to  it  in  the  property  of  light, 
although  weaker,  originates  on  the  illuminated  wall. 
So,  too,  in  a  mirror;  the  only  relationship  is  pure 
causality.  Thus,  the  divine  beneficence  is  the  cause 
of  the  origination  of  the  light  of  being  in  every 
entity  fitted  to  receive  it.  This,  in  short,  is  al- 
Ghazzali's  secret;  the  very  kernel  of  his  doctrine 
of  the  nature  of  man.' 

That  an  economy  of  teaching  so  plain  as  this  was 
so  openly  used  and  confessed  is  one  of  the  greatest 
puzzles  in  the  history  of  the  development  of  Muslim 
theology.  "Ye  cannot  bear  it,"  we  hear  again  and 
again,  and  no  "now"  is  added.  Through  MusHm 
thought  runs  an  intellectual  snobbishness,  which 
cannot  believe  that  the  masses  can  ever  be  taught. 
And  it  is  so  complacent  and  self-satisfied  that  it 
does  not  hesitate  to  state  itself  openly.  The  people, 
it  is  implied,  must  be  quite  willing  to  accept  this 
limitation.  With  al-Ghazzall,  we  have  simply  an 
economy  of  teaching,  resulting  in  several  stages  of 
intellectual  truth,  with  absolute  certainty  attainable 
in  the  mystical  revelation,  open,  more  or  less,  to 
all.  But  when  we  come  to  Averroes,  the  method 
has  hardened  in  his  hands  into  the  philosophical 
doctrine  of  the  twofold  truth.  And  there  is  the  addi- 
tional difference  that,  for  al-Ghazzali,  all  methods 
reached  one  truth,  though  with  varying  degrees  of 
spirituality,  while  between  Averroes'  philosophical 

I  Al-ma^nun  a§-§aghir,  edition  of  Cairo,  A.  H.  1303,  pp.  5,8, 13. 


228    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

and  theological  truths,  there  were  flat  contradictions. 
The  one  could  not  be  called  a  spiritualizing  of  the 
other. 

The  third  term  is  hardest  of  all  to  translate.  By 
a  curious  accident^  the  word  in  Arabic  which  literally 
should  mean  "soul"  has  come  to  be  the  nearest 
equivalent  for  our  word  "flesh"  in  the  theological 
sense.  This  word  is  nafs.  Etymologic  ally,  it  is 
closely  connected  with  the  idea  of  "breath,"  and  is 
the  same  as  the  Hebrew  nephesh,  frequently  tran- 
slated in  our  Bible  versions  "soul,"  and  sometimes 
"breath,"  "life,"  "appetite."  The  last  is  primary, 
for  the  essential  idea  of  the  word  is  life  on  the  side 
of  its  passions  and  appetites — it  is,  in  a  word,  the 
appetitive  soul.  Of  the  many  meanings,  then,  which 
nafs  can  have,  al-Ghazzall  says  that  two  are  to  our 
purpose.  It  is  used  to  express  the  idea  which  com- 
bines the  force  of  anger  and  fleshly  appetite  in  man. 
The  Arabic  word  for  fleshly  appetite  (shahwa)  can 
be  used  in  either  a  good  or  a  bad  sense.  It  is 
"tFUthful"  {sddiqa)  when  it  indicates  a  physical  need 
which  must  be  met  if  the  body  is  to  be  sound,  and 
"lying"  {kddhiha)  when  that  is  not  the  case.  It  is 
used  of  desire  of  food,  etc.,  and  of  sexual  appetite. 
This  usage  is  the  prevailing  one  among  Sufis,  for 
they  mean  by  the  najs  that  which  combines  in  man 
his  blameworthy  qualities,  and  they  say  that  man 
must  fight  against  the  najs  and  break  it.  In  this 
way  the  Prophet  used  it  when  he  said,  "Thy  najs. 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      229 

which  is  between  thy  two  sides,  is  thy  worst  enemy." 
Here,  of  course,  we  have  exactly  our  idea  of  "the 
flesh."  And  ascetics,  as  Sufis  are  generally,  would 
naturally  describe  all  physical  appetites  as  movements 
of  the  flesh,  and  regard  as  a  religious  duty  their  sup- 
pression to  the  limit  of  possibility. 

The  second  usage  is  to  indicate  that  same  subtlety 
which  has  been  mentioned  already,  and  which  is 
the  verity  and  soul  and  essence  of  a  man.  It  is 
indicated  when  a  man  says,  ''I,"  by  which  he  means 
a  spiritual,  abiding  substance.  But  this  ''soul" — 
if  we  can  so  call  it — can  be  described  in  different 
ways  according  as  its  states  are  different. 

When  it  is  submissive  to  the  command  of  God 
and  undisturbed  by  contending  lusts,  it  is  called 
"the  soul  at  rest"  (an-nafs  ol-mutmaHnna) .  So  God 
addresses  it  in  the  Qur^dn  (xxxix,  27),  "O  thou 
soul  at  rest,  return  unto  thy  Lord,  well  pleased, 
accepted!"  This,  of  course,  can  never  be  said  of 
the  najs  of  the  first  usage.  Its  return  to  God  is 
inconceivable,  for  it  belongs  to  the  host  of  the  devil. 
But,  secondly,  when  the  state  of  rest  of  the  soul  is 
incomplete  and  it  is  still  struggling  with  the  lust- 
ful soul,  it  is  called  "the  upbraiding  soul"  (an- 
nafs  al-lawwdma) ;  of  it  God  speaks  in  the  Qur^dn 
(Ixxv,  2),  "And  nay!  I  swear  by  the  soul  that 
upbraids."  But,  thirdly,  if  the  soul  ceases  to  oppose 
the  enticements  of  the  lusts  and  the  summoners  of 
the  devil,  and  yields  itself  to  them,  it  is  called  "the 


230    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

soul  that  commands  to  evil"  (an-nafs  al-ammdra 
bis-stP).  Thus  God  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Joseph  in 
the  Qur^dn  (xii,  53),  "Verily  the  soul  indeed  com- 
mands to  evil."  Yet  here,  adds  al-Ghazzali,  we 
may  perhaps  have  the  soul  of  the  first  usage,  i.  e., 
that  which  comprises  man's  anger  and  lust;  it  is 
altogether  blameworthy,  while  the  soul  of  the  second 
usage  is  praiseworthy  as  the  very  essence  of  man 
which  knows  God  and  all  knowable  things. 

The  fourth  term  is  '^aql,  by  which  Arabic  writers 
on  philosophy  have  generally  rendered  the  Greek 
vov^.  For  the  present  purpose  it  may  be  rendered 
"intelligence,"  and  has  two  usages.  It  means,  in 
the  first  instance,  knowledge  of  the  true  nature  of 
things,  and  is  an  expression  for  the  knowledge  whose 
seat  is  the  heart.  And  in  the  second  instance,  it  is 
that  which  perceives  knowledge,  thus  the  heart 
itself,  namely  that  subtlety  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
Thus  there  stands  in  a  tradition,  "The  first  thing 
that  God  created  was  Intelligence  {al-'^aql)^  ^Aql, 
then,  means  either  the  quality  of  intelligence  in  one 
who  perceives,  or  the  percipient  mind  itself  in  which 
that  quality  inheres. 

Elsewhere^  al-Ghazzali  further  subdivides  the 
knowledge  of  the  heart  into  three:  (i)  axiomatic 
knowledge;  (2)  knowledge  from  experience;  (3) 
prudence,  the  last  fruit  of  experience.  Thus  ^aql 
seems  to  be  used  both  for  0  vov<;  and  for  to  voovfxevov. 

I  Ihya,  Vol.  I,  pp.  458  ff. 


iU     ..>Y^. 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      231 

These,  then,  are  four  terms  and  behind  each  lie 
two  ideas.  Behind  qalh  there  is  the  physical  heart; 
behind  ruh  the  physical  vapor  which  issues  from  the 
physical  heart;  behind  najs  there  is  the  sensual 
being,  the  "flesh;"  behind  ^aql  there  is  knowledge. 
But  there  is  also  a  fifth  idea,  that  knowing  and  per- 
ceiving subtlety  in  man,  which  lies  behind  all  four, 
and  to  which  the  four  terms  apply  in  common.  It 
is  called  specially  the  heart,  because  its  first  connec- 
tion is  with  the  heart,  though  it  rules  and  uses  all  the 
body.  Its  seat  is  there  as  the  seat  of  God  is  on  his 
throne  in  heaven,  while  he  rules  the  universe. 

But  having  fixed  these  terms,  the  next  point  is  the 
equipment  and  working  of  this  ''heart."  God  has 
said,"  ''And  who  knoweth  the  armies  of  thy  Lord 
save  himself?"  To  God  belong  in  hearts  and 
spirits  and  in  all  the  worlds  serried  armies  whose 
nature  and  number  none  knoweth  save  he ;  the  world 
is  full  of  armies  in  conflict;  but  all  are  his.  So 
in  the  human  heart  there  are  armies,  and  some 
are  to  our  present  purpose.  Of  these  are  two,  an 
army  that  can  be  seen  with  fleshly  eyes,  and  one  that 
only  eyes  of  the  spirit  can  see.  Of  both  the  heart  is 
lord,  and  they  to  it  are  servants.  The  visible  are 
such  as  the  hand,  the  foot,  the  eye— all  the  organs 
of  the  body  within  and  without.  They  are  fashioned 
for  obedience  to  the  heart  and  cannot  disobey  it, 
even  as  the  angels  are  related  to  God,  with  the  one 

I  Qur.  Ixxiv,  34. 


232    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

difference  that  the  angels  know  their  own  obedience, 
and  the  eyeHd,  for  example,  has  no  knowledge  of 
itself  when  it  opens  or  shuts.  Thus  we  are  to 
understand  that  all  things  in  earth  and  heaven, 
material  and  spiritual,  belong  alike  to  the  armies  of 
God.  And  of  these  armies  the  heart  has  need  as  a 
vehicle  and  as  provision  on  the  journey  for  which  it 
was  created,  namely,  the  journey  to  God.  "  I  cre- 
ated not  mankind  and  Jinn,"  saith  Allah,  "save  to 
serve  me."^  That  is  the  end;  the  vehicle  is  the  body; 
the  provision  is  knowledge;  and  it  is  not  attained  and 
stored  save  through  sound  action.  Thus  the  creature 
cannot  reach  God  except  by  inhabiting  the  body; 
it  is  a  necessary  stage  on  the  journey;  a  seed-field 
Ji  of  the  world  to  come;  therefore  the  world  is  called 
ad-Dunya,  the  nearer  one,  because  it  is  the  first  of 
those  stages.  "A  wanderer  is  man  from  his  birth," 
quotes  the  commentator  from  *=Ali;  and  from  an 
unnamed  poet,  ''He  who  is  in  this  world,  though 
city-pent,  is  a  traveler,  and  his  journey  goes  on,  though 
he  knows  it  not." 

The  body,  then,  is  the  vehicle,  or  boat,  by  which 
man  reaches  this  world.  So  it  is  his  duty  to  care 
for  it  by  bringing  to  it  that  which  it  needs  by  way 
of  food,  etc.,  and  by  warding  off  from  it  what  may 
hurt  it  or  destroy  it.  The  heart,  therefore,  needs  two 
armies  to  provide  food  for  the  body — an  internal, 
the  appetite,  and  an  external,  the  organs  of  the  body. 

I  Qur.  li,  56. 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      233 

The  needed  appetites  are  created  in  the  heart;  and 
the  needed  organs,  the  instruments  of  the  appetites, 
are  created  in  the  body.  Similarly,  for  driving 
away  destructive  things,  there  is  anger  in  the  heart 
and  its  instruments  in  the  body.  Further,  if  food 
were  not  known,  what  would  avail  the  appetite  for 
food  ?  The  heart  has  need,  therefore,  of  two  other 
armies — one  internal,  perceptions  of  hearing,  seeing, 
smelling,  etc.,  and  one  external,  the  eye,  the  ear,  the 
nose,  etc.  This  could  be  developed  at  great  length, 
as  al-Ghazzali  does  in  his  Book  of  Thanksgiving. 
But,  in  short,  the  armies  of  the  heart  can  be  divided 
into  three  classes :  a  class  which  excites  either  to  the 
obtaining  of  that  which  is  necessary,  or  to  the  repel- 
ling of  that  which  is  hurtful  and  which  is  often  called 
the  will;  a  class  which  moves  the  limbs,  scattered 
equally  through  them,  often  called  power ;  and  thirdly, 
a  class  which  perceives  and  recognizes,  being  settled 
in  the  individual  organs  of  sense,  and  which  is  often 
called  knowledge  and  perception.  Corresponding  to 
each  of  these  is  an  external  army,  organs  of  flesh  and 
blood,  adapted  to  be  their  instruments.  But  this  last, 
which  belongs  to  the  physical,  sensible  world,  is  not 
our  subject  now. 

Further,  this  third  class  divides,  on  one  hand,  into 
the  five  senses  inhabiting  the  five  external  organs  of 
sense  and  on  another,  into  five  internal  senses  which 
inhabit  the  hollows  of  the  brain.  Thus,  if  a  man 
closes  his  eyes  after  seeing  something,  he  perceives 


234    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

the  image  of  it  in  himself;  this  is  the  picturing 
power.  Then  this  image  remains  with  him  by 
reason  of  something  that  preserves  it;  this  is  the 
memory.  Then  he  reflects  on  what  he  remembers 
and  makes  of  it  new  combinations.  Then  he 
recalls  to  memory  what  he  has  forgotten.  Then 
he  gathers  into  a  compound  the  ideas  of  the  sen- 
suous impressions  on  his  imagination  through 
the  "general  sense."  Thus,  within  the  brain  are 
this  "general  sense,"  the  imaginative  power,  the 
reflective  power,  the  recollective  power,  and  the 
memory.^ 

This  psychological  scheme  al-Ghazzall  goes  on  to 
expand  and  apply  in  a  series  of  allegories.  The 
armies  of  anger  and  fleshly  appetite  are  sometimes 
completely  submissive  to  the  heart,  and  that  sub- 
mission aids  it  on  its  way  to  eternal  felicity;  and 
sometimes  they  revolt  and  even  overcome  it  and 
subdue  it,  and  thus  destroy  it  and  its  success.  The 
heart,  too,  has  yet  another  army,  knowledge  and 
wisdom  and  reflection — the  host  of  God — and  this 
army  assists  it  against  the  other  two  armies  which 
sometimes  join  the  hosts  of  the  devil.  If  the  heart 
then  does  not  seek  such  assistance  but  gives  up  the 
struggle,  it  perishes  of  a  certainty.  Such  is  the  state 
of  most  men;  their  intelligence  is  so  subdued  by 
their  appetites  that  it  is  devoted  to  devising  ways  of 
satisfying  these  appetites.     The  soul  of  man,  then, 

I  On  this  psychological  scheme  cf.  above  pp.  72  fif. 


u 


V 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      235 

in  his  body,  may  be  likened  to  a  king  in  his  kingdom. 
The  members  and  powers  of  the  body  are  like  the 
artisans  and  laborers;  the  intelligent  reflective 
power  is  like  the  wise  wazir;  the  physical  appetites 
are  like  the  evil  slave  who  brings  provisions;  and 
anger  and  indignation  are  like  the  police  force.  The 
purveying  slave  is  a  liar,  deceitful,  guileful,  vile,  who 
poses  as  a  sincere  adviser.  His  custom  is  to  set 
himself  against  the  true  wazir  at  every  moment,  but 
the  safety  of  the  kingdom  lies  in  the  rejection  of  his 
advice  and  in  the  keeping  of  him  and  the  police 
force  in  their  fit  places.  The  slave,  especially,  can 
be  subdued  by  subjecting  him  to  the  admonitions 
and  rule  of  the  police.  But  each  in  turn  can  be 
played  off  against  the  other.  So,  exactly,  the  fleshly 
appetites  and  the  power  of  indignation  can  be  used 
to  subject  one  another. 

But  the  body  of  man  can  also  be  likened  to  a  city, 
and  the  intellect  to  its  king.  The  senses,  within 
and  without,  are  the  people.  Against  it  wars  the 
''soul  commanding  to  evil"  (the  fleshly  lusts  and 
anger)  and  strives  to  destroy  the  people.  We  have 
the  leaguer  of  Mansoul  in  Bunyan's  Holy  War. 
So  the  body  is  like  a  castle  on  a  hostile  frontier,  and 
the  soul  as  its  keeper  must  ever  be  on  guard  against 
the  forces  of  evil.  God  will  take  account  with  it 
at  the  last  day  for  the  folk  that  have  been  in  its 
charge.  This  is  the  truest  jihad,  or  "holy  warfare," 
and  so  Muhammad  said,  "We  return  from  the  lesser 


236    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

jihad  to  the  greater,"  from  contending  with  unbe- 
lievers to  contending  with  ourselves. 

Or  man's  intellect  can  be  likened  to  a  horseman 
who  has  gone  a  hunting  with  his  fleshly  appetite  as 
his  horse  and  his  anger  as  his  dog.  If  then  the  horse- 
man be  skilled,  and  his  horse  trained  and  his  dog 
broken  and  accustomed,  his  hunting  will  prosper. 
But  if  he  be  awkward  and  his  horse  restive  and  his 
dog  vicious,  then  he  can  neither  rule  his  horse  nor 
guide  his  dog,  and  he  himself  is  rather  worthy  of 
blame  than  of  success  in  his  hunting.  And  what 
this  means  in  the  regimen  of  the  soul  is  plain. 

In  these  three  allegories  the  whole  structure  of 
man  is  reckoned  with  and  used.  Everything,  from 
the  lowest  appetites,  has  its  place  and  purpose.  The 
scheme  is  not  one  of  absolute  asceticism,  but  of 
balanced  development  of  all  man's  being.  Nor  does 
this  so  far  hold  of  man  alone.  Up  to  this  point  it 
might  apply  to  all  animals,  for  all  have  these  appe- 
tites and  senses,  internal  and  external.  Even  a 
sheep  sees  a  wolf  coming  and  has  an  inward  sense 
of  fear  and  flees  from  it.  Apparently  al-Ghazzali 
would  assign  to  the  lower  animals  some  power,  even, 
of  reflection,  of  making  combinations,  but  at  that  his 
commentator  protests. 

What  in  man,  however,  distinguishes  him  from 
the  lower  animals  and  makes  possible  his  approach 
to  God  is  a  particular  kind  of  knowledge  and  of 
will.     The  knowledge  is  that  about  religion  and  the 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      237 

world  to  come  and  about  the  intellectual  essences; 
these  all  lie  behind  the  objects  of  sense,  and  are 
metaphysical.  To  this  belongs,  also,  necessary  uni- 
versal knowledge,  as  when  a  man  judges  by  his  intel- 
lect that  an  individual  cannot  be  in  two  places  at 
one  time,  even  though  he  has  not  observed  this  of  all 
individuals.  And  the  will  is  that  produced  when  a 
man  observes  by  his  intellect  the  consequences  of 
an  act  and  how  to  reach  what  is  really  best.  A 
desire  for  that  is  then  aroused  in  him,  and  he  gives 
himself  to  it  and  wills  it.  This,  too,  the  lower  ani- 
mals know  nothing  of;  they  seek  the  immediate, 
sensuous  good  and  are  heedless  of  consequences. 

This  kind  of  knowledge,  then,  and  this  kind  of 
will  distinguish  man  from  the  other  animals.  Yet 
even  he  must  grow  up  to  these  things;  the  child  at 
first  is  as  the  beasts  that  perish.  He  gains  them  in 
two  steps.  The  first  is  that  he  grasps  in  an  external 
fashion  all  that  axiomatic,  necessary  knowledge 
which  is  intuitively  perceived,  such  as  the  impossi- 
bility of  this  and  the  possibility  of  that;  but  of  spec- 
ulative knowledge  he  has  only,  so  far,  the  near 
possibility  and  not  the  actuality.  It  is  as  though  he 
knew  the  elements  of  writing  but  could  not  put 
together  words  which  would  convey  a  meaning. 
Then,  secondly,  there  comes  to  him  knowledge 
acquired  by  experience  and  reflection,  and  he  has 
a  store  of  it  on  which  he  can  draw  when  he  wills. 
Now  he  knows  all  about  writing  and  can  write 


238    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

what  he  pleases.  In  this  stage  there  are  all  manner 
of  degrees,  reaching  through  the  ordinary  experiences 
of  men  to  the  direct  vision  of  saints,  and  finally  to 
the  divine  revelation  to  prophets.  To  some,  the 
ascent  is  slow ;  to  others  fast ;  but  to  the  knowledge 
concerning  God  there  are  no  bounds.  Each  knows 
his  own  degree,  but  cannot  know  the  essence  of  that 
which  is  beyond  him.  He  may  believe  in  prophecy 
and  be  certain  that  there  are  prophets;  but  unless 
he  is  a  prophet,  he  cannot  know  the  essence  of 
prophetship.  All  this  comes  freely  of  the  grace  and 
bounty  of  God,  who  is  ever  ready  to  hear  and 
answer.  If  the  pure  yearn  to  meet  him,  he  yearns 
more  grievously  still  to  meet  them.  If  they  advance 
to  him  a  span,  he  advances  a  cubit.  There  is  no 
niggardliness  on  his  part,  nothing  hinders  men  but 
the  darkness  of  their  own  hearts  and  the  curtains 
which  the  cares  of  this  world  draw. 

Man,  therefore,  is  between  the  beasts  and  the 
angels.  But  his  true  "differentia"  is  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  essences  of  things.  He,  then,  who 
employs  all  his  members  and  powers  by  seeking  aid 
from  them  in  the  attaining  of  knowledge  and  well- 
executed  labor,  he  has  become  like  the  angels  and 
worthy  to  be  joined  with  them  and  called  one  of 
them.  But  if  he  turn  to  the  body  and  its  appetites, 
then  he  will  become  stupid  as  an  ox,  greedy  as  a  pig, 
fawning  as  a  dog  or  a  cat,  malicious  as  a  camel, 
insolent  as  a  leopard,  or  shifty  as  a  fox.     Or  he  may 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      239 

join  all  together  and  become  a  very  devil.  In  a 
word,  all  his  members  and  senses  can  be  used  either 
to  bring  him  to  God  and  his  eternal  salvation,  or 
to  plunge  him  in  destruction.  He  must  walk  the 
way  of  the  world  as  a  passer-by,  not  as  a  dweller; 
this  world  is  a  bridge  to  the  next. 

Thus,  there  mingle  in  every  man  four  properties, 
and  he  can  be  described  in  four  ways.  He  may  show 
the  qualities  of  ravenous  beasts,  or  of  the  lower  ani- 
mals, or  of  devils,  or  of  sages.  There  are  in  him 
anger,  physical  appetites,  deviltry,  and  lordship.  The 
first  two  have  already  been  sufficiently  explained ;  on 
the  two  latter  al-Ghazzali  dwells  with  a  whimsical 
humor  which  suggests  large  experience.  In  the  soul 
of  man  there  is  a  certain  lordly  part.  This  belongs 
apparently  to  the  ruh  of  man,  for,  in  explanation, 
Qur^dn,  xvii,  87,  is  again  quoted:  "Say,  'The  spirit 
{rilh)  is  of  the  affair  of  my  Lord.'  "  This  is  because 
he  claims  for  himself  lordship,  and  loves  rule  and 
superiority  and  distinction  and  exclusiveness  in  all 
things,  and  being  single  in  rule  and  removed  from 
servileness  and  humbleness.  And  he  longs  to  learn 
all  sciences;  claims  for  himself  science  and  knowl- 
edge and  comprehension  of  the  true  natures  of  things; 
and  rejoices  when  thought  wise  and  sorrows  when 
thought  ignorant.  Comprehension  of  all  verities  and 
seeking  of  rule  by  force  over  all  creatures  describe 
the  quahty,  lordship;  for  that  man's  desire  is  strong. 

There  we  have  evidently  a  fundamental  analysis 


240    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

of  the  absolute  sage,  as  al-Ghazzali  had  known 
him — an  outgrowth  of  the  spirit  of  rule,  developed 
through  lust  of  knowledge.^  But  here  is  the  other, 
the  Satanic  side.  It  is  in  man  through  his  having, 
besides  the  physical  appetites  and  anger,  a  quality 
of  distinguishing  which  is  not  in  the  lower  animals. 
So  he  becomes  peculiarly  evil,  through  using  this 
quality  of  discriminative  rationality  to  search  out 
fashions  of  wickedness,  and  attains  his  evil  ends  by 
guile  and  deceit. 

Under  the  hide  of  every  man,  therefore — such  is 
al-Ghazzali's  phrase — there  is  a  pig,  a  dog,  a  devil, 
and  a  sage;  and  it  is  his  problem  to  see  to  it  that 
the  sage  exposes  the  wiles  of  the  devil,  and  keeps 
the  pig  and  the  dog  in  subjection  by  playing  them 
off,  one  against  the  other.  So  everything  may  go 
smoothly,  and  the  wrath  of  man  be  made  to  praise 
God.  The  quality  of  lordship,  thus  fulfilling  its 
best  purpose,  will  turn  to  wisdom,  knowledge, 
insight,  and  have  a  true  claim  to  precedence;  the 
pig  quality  will  turn  to  chastity,  patience,  temper- 
ance, gentleness,  reverence;  the  dog  quality  to 
courage,  generosity,  clemency,  dignity.  But  most 
frequently  this  does  not  happen,  and  the  strange 
thing  is  how  men  will  blame  the  worshipers  of  idols, 
and  yet  if  the  veil  were  removed  from  them  and  their 
essential  state  revealed,  they  would  see  themselves 
bowing  down  to  pigs  and  dogs. 

^  Cf.  "Life,"  Journal  of  American  Oriental  Society^  Vol.  XX, 
p.  105,  and  p.  194  above. 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      241 

Another  allegory  describing  the  heart  as  a  mirror 
exposed  to  all  manner  of  influences  follows  in  detail. 
But  I  need  not  give  it  here,  though  there  is  an  inter- 
esting passage  describing  how  the  thought  (dhikr) 
of  God  "rests  the  heart,'"  and  leads  to  the  unveiling 
which  leads  to  the  great  felicity,  the  meeting  with 
God  himself.  So  Augustine  said,  "  Our  hearts  are 
restless  till  they  rest  in  thee." 

But  when,  in  his  next  section,  al-Ghazzali  comes 
to  consider  the  heart  as  the  instrument  of  knowledge, 
he  makes  more  elaborate  use  of  the  same  allegory. 
This  heart,  which  controls  all  the  members,  is  the 
locus  of  knowledge  as  to  the  essences  of  known 
things.  Its  relation  to  them  is  that  of  a  mirror  to  the 
changing  forms  of  the  material  world.  In  the  one 
case,  you  have  the  mirror,  the  form  of  the  thing  to 
be  reflected  and  the  reflection;  in  the  other,  the 
heart,  the  form  of  the  essence  of  the  thing  perceived 
and  the  production  and  presence  of  the  latter  in  the 
heart.  "Knower"  is  an  expression  for  the  heart 
in  which  is  the  likeness  of  these  perceived  essences. 
"Known"  is  an  expression  for  the  likeness  which 
results  in  the  heart.  But  five  reasons  may  prevent 
a  mirror  reflecting :  It  may  be  unformed  and  unpol- 
ished; it  may  be  dirty;  it  may  be  turned  away  from 
the  thing  to  be  reflected;  there  may  be  a  curtain 
over  it;  there  may  be  ignorance  as  to  the  direction  of 
the  thing  to  be  reflected.     So,  too,  the  mirror  of  the 

I  Qur.  xiii,  28. 


242    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

heart.  It  may  be  unformed  and  incapable,  like  the 
heart  of  a  child.  It  may  be  soiled  by  sin.  This  is 
a  stain  that  can  never  be  perfectly  done  away  with; 
subsequent  good  deeds  may  remove  it,  but  even 
then,  without  it,  the  heart  would  have  been  still 
brighter.  Thirdly,  the  heart  may  be  formed  and 
capable;  it  may  be  pure  and  bright;  but  it  may 
not  be  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  truth  which  it 
should  reflect,  because  it  is  immersed  in  the  details 
of  actions  of  piety  and  obedience  and  in  zeal  for  its 
own  purification.  Thus  the  heart  is  not  really 
occupied  with  God,  but  with  the  means  of  reaching 
him,  and  by  these  means  it  is  defeated  of  the  end. 
Fourthly,  the  heart  may  be  veiled  by  some  inveterate 
prejudice  of  traditional  faith.  This  is  the  case  with 
most  scholastic  theologians  and  those  who  zealously 
uphold  definite  schools.  Even  many  of  the  pious, 
when  they  think  of  heavenly  things,  are  limited  by 
their  early  training  and  do  not  reach  unveiled,  direct 
vision.  Fifthly,  there  may  be  ignorance  as  to  the 
direction  in  which  the  desired  vision  must  be  sought. 
No  knowledge,  except  that  which  is  innate,  is  gained 
save  through  combining  such  preceding  knowledge 
as  is  of  the  same  nature.  Ignorance,  then,  as  to  this 
preceding  knowledge  and  how  to  use  it  is  a  fatal 
but  common  defect.  We  must  always  put  together 
two  pieces  of  knowledge  to  gain  a  third.  Here  the 
syllogism  is  evidently  thought  of,  but  al-Ghazzall 
illustrates  with  the,   for  us,   odd  but,   in  Arabic, 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      243 

common  illustration  that  you  must  use  two  mirrors 
if  you  want  to  see  the  back  of  your  head.  Just  as 
devious  and  seemingly  perplexed  ways  must  be  fol- 
lowed in  gaining  any  knowledge,  even  that  of  the 
truth. 

Without  these  five  hindrances,   then,   the  heart 
attains  to  knowledge  of  the  essences  of  things,  for  it, 

0  by  its  created  nature  (fitra)  is  adapted  thereto.  It 
is  a  divine  and  noble  thing,  differing  from  all  other 
substances  of  the  world  in  this  peculiarity  and 
nobihty.  Of  it  God  has  said,  "We  offered  the  trust 
to  the  heavens  and  the  earth  and  the  mountains,  then 
they  refused  to  bear  it  and  feared  it;  but  man  bore 
it."'  Thus  the  heart  of  man  is  different  from  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  in  that  it  can  bear  the  bur- 

v  den  of  God's  trust,  that  is  knowledge  of  and  unity 
with  God.  The  heart  of  every  human  being  is,  in 
its  origin,  fitted  for  and  equal  to  that,  but  often 
hindered  by  these  five  causes.  Muhammad  said 
''Every  child  is  born  according  to  God's  plan 
(^ala-l-fitra) ;  it  is  only  the  parents  who  make  it  a 
Jew  or  a  Christian  or  a  Magian."  And  again  he 
said,  ''If  it  were  not  that  the  devils  were  hovering 
round  the  hearts  of  men,  verily  they  would  behold 
the  heavenly  kingdom  {al-malakut).''^  So,  too,  he 
was  asked,  "Where  is  God?  in  the  earth  or  the 
heavens  ?  "  He  replied,  "  In  the  hearts  of  his  believing 
creatures. ' '   And  a  tradition  represents  God  as  saying, 

I  Qur.  xxxiii,  72. 


244    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

''My  earth  cannot  contain  me,  nor  my  heaven,  but 
the  tender  and  tranquil  heart  of  my  believing 
creature  contains  me." 

In  this  vision,  then,  all  things  are  revealed. 
^Umar  said,  "My  heart  saw  my  Lord,  when  he 
had  raised  the  veil  through  godly  fear."  For  whom- 
soever the  veil  rises  between  him  and  God,  to 
him  the  form  of  the  world  of  sense  and  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom  appear  in  his  heart,  and  he  sees  a 
paradise,  the  breadth  of  but  part  of  which  is  as  the 
heavens  and  the  earth.  This  is  simple,  for  "the 
heavens  and  the  earth"  is  only  an  expression  for  the 
world  of  the  senses,  and  it,  wide  as  it  is,  is  finite. 
But  the  world  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  consists  of 
those  secrets  which  are  hidden  from  the  sight  of  the 
eyes  and  are  perceived  by  spiritual  vision  only.  It  is 
true  that  that  of  it  which  shines  in  the  heart  is  a 
limited  amount;  but  it,  in  itself,  and  in  relation  to 
the  knowledge  of  God,  has  no  limit.  The  worlds, 
then,  of  sense  and  the  kingdom,  taken  together,  are 
called  the  Divine  Presence,  because  that  Presence 
encompasses  all  existing  things.  Nothing  exists 
except  God  and  his  works  and  his  realm,  and  his 
creatures  are  part  of  his  works.  Further,  what 
appears  of  this  to  the  heart  is  Paradise  itself, 
according  to  some;  this  is  the  basis  of  the  claim  to 
Paradise  by  those  who  see  it. 

In  this  way,  then,  knowledge  and  purification  of 
the  heart  and  vision  are  bound  together.     "Whom 


~\ 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      245 

God  wills  to  guide,"  says  the  Qur^dn  (vi,  125),  "he 
opens  his  breast  to  Islam."  And  again  (xxxix,  23), 
''Shall  he,  then,  whose  breast  God  has  opened  to 
Islam,  and  he  then  follows  a  light  from  his 
Lord  ....  ?"  The  beginning  is  with  God  and 
his  beneficence.  Thence  come  increase  of  faith, 
light,  knowledge,  and  comprehension  of  and  in 
God,  nearness  to  God,  who  is  near  to  all,  a  propor- 
tioned amount  of  certainty  and  assurance  in  order; 
of  these  each  has  his  share,  reaching  to  the  point 
where  there  is  clear  knowledge  that  naught  exists 
but  God,  and  that  "Everything  is  perishing  save 
his  face."'  It  is,  therefore,  natural  that  to  this 
revelation  and  faith  there  should  be  degrees.  These 
are  three:  (i)  the  faith  of  the  populace,  a  purely 
traditional  faith;  (2)  the  faith  of  scholastics,  which 
is  partly  deductive  and  not  far  removed  from  that 
of  the  populace;  (3)  the  faith  of  those  who  know  by 
experience  and  have  seen  for  themselves  in  the  light 
of  certainty. 

But  the  commentator  further  subdivides  these 
on  the  basis  of  al-Ghazzali's  statements  elsewhere. 
Under  (i)  come  three  others:  (a)  Faith  because  of 
absolute  trust  in  the  narrator,  as  of  children  in  their 
parents  or  teachers;  (b)  Faith  because  of  accompany- 
ing circumstances  which  are  not  really  decisive; 
(c)  Faith  because  the  belief  appeals  to  and  corres- 
ponds with  the  nature  of  the  believer.     Under  (2) 

«  Qur.  xxviii,  88. 


246    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

come  also  three  others;  {a)  Faith  because  of  exhaust- 
ive and  complete  proof,  worked  out  step  by  step  in 
detail  to  the  very  roots;  {b)  Faith  because  of  verbal, 
descriptive  proofs,  based  upon  concessions  believed 
in  because  generally  accepted  by  the  greatest  scholars 
and  because  there  would  be  disgrace  in  rejecting 
them;  (c)  Faith  on  mere  rhetorical  proofs,  commonly 
used  and  accepted. 

Finally,  under  (3),  come  also  three  subdivisions: 
(a)  Belief  that  all  besides  God,  whenever  its  essence 
is  considered,  qua  its  essence,  has  no  existence,  nay 
its  existence  is  borrowed  from  something;  and  that 
this  borrowed  existence  has  no  subsistence  in  itself 
but  in  something  else,  and  that  this  relation  of 
borrowing  is  a  pure  metaphor ;  whenever  this  verity 
is  revealed  to  a  creature  in  the  light  of  certainty,  he 
knows  that  it  is  a  possession  to  its  possessor,  for 
him  alone;  no  one  partakes  with  him  in  it.  (b) 
They  mount  from  the  level  of  metaphor  to  the  peak 
of  reality  and  complete  their  ascent  and  see  with 
vision  of  their  eyes  that  there  is  nought  in  existence 
except  God,  and  that  "  Everything  is  perishing  save 
his  face.'"  This  does  not  mean  that  it  comes  to 
perish  at  some  time  or  other,  but  that  it  is  perishing 
from  eternity  and  to  eternity  and  cannot  be  other- 
wise thought  of;  further,  that  everything  except 
him,  when  its  essence  is  considered,  qua  essence,  is 

^  Qur.  xxviii,  88;  'wajh  =  "ia.ce,''  "aspect,"  "direction;"  in 
what  follows  there  is  a  play  on  the  two  meanings  "face"  and 
"direction." 


O 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      247 

a  pure  nonentity.  And  whenever  it  is  considered 
from  the  aspect  which  brings  it  into  existence  at 
first,  it  is  seen  to  exist,  not  in  its  essence  but  from 
the  aspect  which  appertains  to  that  which  brings  it 
into  existence.  So  that  which  exists  is  only  the 
aspect  of  God.  Everything  has  two  aspects,  one 
to  itself  and  one  to  its  Lord.  As  regards  the  aspect 
to  itself,  it  is  a  nonentity;  but  as  regards  the  aspect 
of  God  it  is  an  entity.  Then  since  nothing  exists 
except  God,  and  his  aspect,  and  since  everything  is 
perishing  save  his  aspect  from  eternity  to  eternity, 
those  who  know  this  stand  in  no  need  of  the  coming 
of  the  day  of  resurrection  to  hear  the  cry  of  the 
creator.  "Whose  is  the  rule  to-day  ?  It  is  Allah's, 
the  One,  the  Conqueror!"'  Nay,  that  cry  is  never 
out  of  their  ears. 

There  follows  an  explanation  on  the  basis  of  this, 
of  the  Muslim  war-cry  Alldhu  akbar,  "Allah  is 
greater,"  i.  e.,  than  any  other,  a  cry  derived  probably 
from  pre-Muslim  times  and  a  constant  stumbling 
block  to  Muslim  exegetes.  Here  it  is  said  that  it 
means  that  he  is  greater  than  that  "greater"  can 
be  said  of  him  in  any  sense  of  relationship  or 
comparison. 

Lastly,  (c)  after  they  have  ascended  to  the  heaven 

of  reality,  they  agree  that  they  have  not  seen  in 

existence  aught  but  the  One,  the  Real   {al-haqq). 

To  some  this  state  is  knowledge,  both  experimental 

I  Qur.  xl,  16. 


248    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

and  scientific  ("^rfdn  and  Him),  while  to  others  it  is 
a  passing  taste.  Multiplicity  is  driven  from  them 
in  totality,  and  they  are  plunged  in  absolute  solitari- 
ness. Their  reason  is  absorbed  completely  and  they 
become  bewildered;  no  capacity  remaining  for  the 
thought  of  aught  but  God;  or  for  the  thought,  even, 
of  themselves.  So  there  is  nothing  with  them  but 
God,  and  they  are  drunken  with  a  drunkenness 
which  rules  in  place  of  reason.  Then  one  of  them 
may  say,  "I  am  the  Real  (al-haqq),'^  and  another, 
*'The  praise  is  mine,  how  mighty  am  I!"  and 
another,  "There  is  nothing  in  this  cloak  but  God." 
But  the  speech  of  lovers  in  a  state  of  drunkenness 
hides  and  does  not  narrate.  So  when  their  drunken- 
ness has  passed  from  them,  and  they  have  returned 
to  the  rule  of  reason — God's  weighing  balance  upon 
earth — they  recognize  that  that  was  not  real  union 
{ittihdd)  but  only  resembled  union.  When,  then,  this 
state  prevails,  it  is  called,  in  relation  to  him  under 
it,  "passing  away"  (jand),  or  rather,  the  passing 
away  of  passing  away.  For  the  subject  passes  away 
from  himself,  and  passes  away  from  his  passing 
away;  he  does  not  feel  himself  nor  the  lack  of 
feeling  himself.  If  he  felt  the  lack  of  his  feeling, 
he  would  feel  himself.  This  state,  in  relation  to 
him  who  is  plunged  in  it,  is  called,  metaphorically, 
"union"  {ittihdd),  but  its  real  name  is  "unifying" 
{tawhld;  i.  e.,  perception  of  and  belief  in  God's 
unity). 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      249 

So  far  the  commentator,  following  al-Ghazzali's 
tabulation  elsewhere.  I  now  return  to  the  simpler 
division.  An  illustration  of  it,  says  al-Ghazzali,  may 
be  drawn  from  the  degrees  of  your  knowledge  that 
such  and  such  a  man  is  in  his  house.  First,  some 
one  in  whom  you  have  absolute  trust  may  tell  you  so ; 
you  believe  it  on  his  authority.  The  like  of  this  in 
religion  is  a  saving  faith,  but  it  will  not  assure  a 
place  near  to  God  in  Paradise.  This,  I  may  add, 
^  is  a  very  vexed  point  in  Islam.  Some  have  even 
held  that  no  faith  can  save  which  is  not  based  on 
elaborate  proof.'  But,  secondly,  you  may  hear  the 
voice  of  that  person  in  his  house,  and  may  deduce 
from  that  his  presence  there.  This  is  more  personal 
and  certain,  but  even  in  this  case,  you  may  have 
mistaken  the  voice.  But  thirdly,  when  you  enter  his 
house  and  see  him  there,  you  know  assuredly  his 
presence.  This  is  like  the  rehgious  knowledge  of 
angels  and  saints;  yet  it,  too,  has  degrees,  for  you 
may  see  this  man  with  greater  or  less  distinctness 
according  to  the  light  and  other  conditions. 

The  knowledge,  then,  that  is  in  the  heart  may  be 
subdivided  in  different  ways:  first,  into  intellectual 
and  religious;  the  religious  comes  by  tradition  from 
prophets,  but  the  intellectual  is  either  axiomatic  or 
acquired  through  study  and  deduction;  the  acquired 
knowledge,  finally,  is  either  of  the  things  of  this 

I  Cf.  Macdonald,  Development  0}  Muslim  Theology^  etc.,  pp. 
316,  318. 


r 


250    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

world  or  of  those  of  the  world  to  come.  But  it  must 
not  be  thought  that  intellectual  and  religious  knowl- 
edge, or  that  the  intellect  as  an  organ  and  tradition 
as  a  source  of  knowledge,  are  opposed  to  one  another. 
Each  stands  in  need  of  the  other ;  and  the  wise  man 
is  he  who  combines  both.  Intellectual  knowledge 
may  be  regarded  as  food,  and  religious  knowledge  as 
medicine;  each  has  its  place,  and  only  the  intel- 
lectually or  the  rehgiously  blind  is  ignorant  of  this. 
It  is  true  that  the  two  kinds  of  acquired  knowledge 
—that  of  this  world  and  that  of  the  world  to  come — 
are  mutually  opposed.  He  who  devotes  himself  to 
the  one  is  generally  ignorant  of  the  other.  The 
power  of  the  intellect  cannot  in  general  extend  equally 
over  both.  Only  the  prophets  whom  God  has  sent  to 
instruct  men  as  to  gaining  their  subsistence  in  this 
world  and  their  happiness  in  the  world  to  come  can 
cover  all  knowledge.  For  this  God  assists  them  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  with  divine  power. 

Here,  again,  is  made  very  plain  that  the  unity  of 
Islam  is  absolute.  All  spheres  of  knowledge  are 
controlled  by  the  Prophet,  and  he  is  the  guider  and 
instructor  of  men  in  every  department.  There  can 
be  no  rendering  to  Caesar  and  to  God,  nor  could 
Muhammad  ever  have  said,  "Who  hath  made  me 
a  ruler  and  divider  over  you  ?"  That,  in  Islam,  is 
precisely  what  the  Prophet  is  for. 

It  is  natural,  then,  that  all  processes  of  revelation 
—of  a  forcible  breaking  in  from  the  Unseen— should 


THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  TRAVELER      251 

be  of  the  first  importance,  not  only  for  the  devotional 
life,  but  for  the  theory  and  practice  of  knowledge. 
To  such  violent  in-breakings  we  shall  turn  in  the 
next  lecture. 


LECTURE  IX 

THE  MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND  AND 
THE  TWO  SOURCES  OF  KNOWLEDGE 

Knowledge  which  is  not  axiomatic  but  is  in  the 
mind  at  one  time  and  not  at  another  comes  in 
al-Ghazzali's  classification  in  two  ways.  One  is 
by  study  and  deduction.  It  is  called  reflection  and 
meditation,  and  is  the  method  of  the  <=Ulama,  the 
formal  authorities  on  theology  and  law  in  general. 
The  other  comes  with  a  sudden  attack  upon  the 
heart,  as  though  something  were  cast  {qadhaja)  into 
the  heart  without  its  knowledge.  The  creature  does 
not  know  how  it  comes  to  him,  or  whence,  or 
the  reason  why  that  knowledge  is  granted  to  him. 
It  is  simply  a  contemplation  of  the  world  of  angels 
which  he  finds  in  his  heart.  The  name  given  to  this 
form  of  revelation  when  it  is  granted  to  saints  is 
ilhdm,  which  means  literally  "a  causing  to  swallow 
or  gulp  down."  Once  it  is  used  in  the  Qur^dn 
(xci,  8),  but  whether  in  the  primitive  or  the  theo- 
logical sense  is  obscure.  The  earliest  exegetes  take 
it  in  both  (Tabari,  Tafsir,  Vol.  XXX,  pp.  115  f.),  and 
in  later  Muslim  usage  the  word  came  to  indicate, 
normally,  the  minor  inspiration  of  walls,  or  saints. 
It  is  significant  for  the  external  violence  with  which 
this  knowledge  is  supposed  to  be  given.  The 
major  inspiration,  that  of  prophets,  is  called  wahy, 
(literally  "sending,"   ''writing"   a  message) — fixed 

252 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     253 

already  in  that  theological  sense  intheQur^dn — but  the 
phenomenon  itself  is  felt  to  be  essentially  the  same. 

The  result,  then,  is  that  we  have  the  heart  of  man 
so  equipped  that  the  essence  of  all  things  can  be 
disclosed  in  it  as  in  a  mirror.  Over  against  it  is  the 
Preserved  Tablet  (al-lawh  al-mahjuz)  on  which  is 
engraved  all  that  God  has  decreed  until  the  day  of 
resurrection.  This  would  be  reflected  in  man's 
heart,  if  it  were  not  for  the  veils  of  sense  which  hang 
between.  Yet  these  may  be  moved  aside,  as  it  were, 
either  by  the  hand  or  blown  by  the  wind  of  God's 
favor.  When  that  happens,  part  of  what  is  written 
on  the  tablet  is  disclosed.  Sometimes  this  takes 
place  in  sleep  when  the  future  is  revealed;  the 
process  is  complete  only  at  death.  And  sometimes, 
during  waking  life,  the  veil  is  lifted  by  secret  favor 
from  God,  and  there  shine  on  the  heart  from  behind 
it  some  of  the  hidden  things.  At  one  time  this 
happens  in  a  single  flash  and  at  another  continuously 
to  a  certain  degree;  but  this  last  is  very  rare.  The 
difference  between  knowledge  acquired  by  study  and 
deduction  and  this  ilhdm  knowledge  lies  purely  in  the 
removing  of  the  veil — a  matter  outside  of  man's  will; 
the  nature,  the  place,  and  the  cause  of  the  knowledge 
are  the  same  in  both  cases.  Between  ilhdm  and  wahy 
the  only  difference  is  that  the  angel  messenger,  who 
casts  the  knowledge  into  the  heart,  can  be  seen  by 
the  prophet.  In  all  cases  the  knowledge  is  given 
by  angels.     So  God  said,  "  And  it  is  not  for  a  human 


254    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

being  that  God  should  speak  with  him  save  by 
revelation  (wahy),  or  from  behind  the  veil,  or  [save] 
that  he  should  send  a  messenger  and  so  reveal  in  his 
ear  what  he  wills.'" 

The  commentator  adds  a  brief  statement  of  the 
kinds  of  knowledge:  (i)  knowledge  axiomatic  or 
directly  from  impact  on  the  senses;  (2)  knowledge 
by  consideration  of  premises,  either  intellectual  or 
of  the  senses;  (3)  knowledge  from  the  report  of  men, 
either  by  hearing  or  reading;  (4)  knowledge  from 
inspiration  (wahy)  either  by  the  tongue  of  an  angel 
who  is  seen,  or  by  hearing  his  speech  without  seeing 
him,  or  by  having  it  cast  into  the  mind  while  awake 
or  in  dream.' 

I  Qur.  xlii,  50. 

3  The  following  table  may  perhaps  make  al-Ghazzali's  episte- 
mology  somewhat  clearer: 

Knowledge  {al-'^ulum) 


Religious   (ad-diniya,   ash-shar^iya)  Intellectual  _(a/-<^aj%a) 

Granted  to  prophets  through 
wahy;  to  saints  through  ilhdm; 
received  by  others  on  authority 
and  tradition  {hit-taqlld  was- 
samd^) 


Acquired  by  study  and  deduction  Axiomatic 

{al-muktasiba  bit-ta^allum  (a  d-  daruriya) 

wal-istidldl) 


Dealing  with  this  world  Dealing  with  the  other  world 

(ad-dunyawiya)  (al-^dkhiraiviya) 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND    255 

The  Sufis,  then,  turn  rather  to  knowledge  gained 
by  ilhdm  than  to  that  acquired  by  study.  Books 
and  proofs  they  shun.  Their  path  Qarlq),  rather,  is 
to  cleave  to  spiritual  striving,  to  remove  blameworthy 
qualities,  to  sever  all  ties,  to  advance  with  the  utmost 
zeal  toward  God.  Whenever  these  things  take  place, 
God  takes  charge  of  the  heart  of  his  creature,  and 
illumines  it  with  knowledge,  and  opens  the  breast 
of  the  seeker  so  that  he  accepts  guidance  and 
trusts  God;  there  is  revealed  to  him  the  secret  of 
the  heavenly  kingdom  {al-malakut) ,  and  there  is 
cleared  away  from  the  surface  of  his  heart  the  veil 
of  error,  and  so  the  essences  of  divine  things  shine 
in  it.  All  that  he  has  to  do  is  to  prepare  himself  by 
simple  purifying,  by  showing  zeal  joined  to  pure 
will,  by  thirsting  and  watching  and  expecting.  If 
any  turn  thus  to  God,  God  will  turn  to  him. 

Practically,  the  course  which  is  advised  is  as 
follows.  Let  the  seeker  sever  all  the  ties  of  this 
world  and  empty  it  from  his  heart.  Let  him  cut 
away  all  anxiety  for  family,  wealth,  children,  home; 
for  knowledge,  rule,  ambition.  Let  him  reduce  his 
heart  to  a  state  in  which  the  existence  of  anything 
and  its  non-existence  are  the  same  to  him.  Then 
let  him  sit  alone  in  some  corner,  limiting  his  religious 
duties  to  what  are  absolutely  incumbent,  and  not 
occupying  himself  either  with  reciting  the  Qur^dn 
or  considering  its  meaning  or  with  books  of  religious 
traditions  or  anything  of  the  like.     And  let  him  see 


256    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

to  it  that  nothing  save  God  most  High  enters  his 
mind.  Then  as  he  sits  alone  in  solitude,  let  him  not 
cease  saying  continuously  with  his  tongue,  "Allah, 
Allah/'  keeping  his  thought  on  it.  At  last  he  will 
reach  a  state  when  the  motion  of  his  tongue  will 
cease,  and  it  will  seem  as  though  the  word  flowed 
from  it.  Let  him  persevere  in  this  until  all  trace  of 
motion  is  removed  from  his  tongue,  and  he  finds 
his  heart  persevering  in  the  thought.  Let  him 
still  persevere  until  the  form  of  the  word,  its  letters 
and  shape,  is  removed  from  his  heart,  and  there 
remain  the  idea  alone,  as  though  clinging  to  his 
heart,  inseparable  from  it.  So  far  all  is  dependent 
on  his  will  and  choice;  his  continuance,  too,  in  this 
state  and  his  warding  off  the  whisperings  of  Satan 
are  also  thus  dependent;  but  to  bring  the  mercy  of 
God  does  not  stand  in  his  will  or  choice.  He  has 
now  laid  himself  bare  to  the  breathings  of  that  mercy, 
and  nothing  now  remains  but  to  await  what  God  will 
open  to  him,  as  God  has  done  after  this  manner  to 
prophets  and  saints.  If  he  follows  the  above  course, 
he  may  be  sure  that  the  light  of  the  real  will  shine 
out  in  his  heart.  At  first  unstable,  like  a  flash  of 
lightning,  it  turns  and  returns;  though  sometimes 
it  hangs  back.  And  if  it  returns,  sometimes  it  abides 
and  sometimes  it  is  momentary.  And  if  it  abides, 
sometimes  its  abiding  is  long,  and  sometimes  short. 
And  sometimes  appearances  like  to  the  first  show 
themselves,  coming  one  after  the  other,  and  some- 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND    257 

times  all  is  of  one  kind.  The  attainments  of  the 
saints  of  God  in  this  respect  cannot  be  reckoned,  just 
as  their  differences  of  character  cannot  be  reckoned. 
"  That  a  state  of  auto-hypnosis,  with  very  curious 
consequences,  could  be  produced  by  the  abstrac- 
tion, physical  and  mental,  above  described  and  by 
the  mechanical  repetition  of  a  single  phrase  seems 
tolerably  certain.  There  is  the  case  on  record  of 
Tennyson  who,  by  the  repetition  of  his  own  name, 
could  bring  himself  into  a  similar  dreamy  state  with 
resultant  ideas  which  he  regarded  as  veridical.' 
The  like  performance,  also,  of  Mr.  Kipling's  "Kim" 
is  undoubtedly  a  fair  representation  of  Indian  prac- 
tice.^ That  the  boy  of  Indian  training  and  the 
Englishman  should  endeavor  to  reach  the  Unseen 
through  emphasis  on  their  own  personalities,  while 
the  Muslim  does  the  same  by  the  name  of  Allah, 
is  certainly  significant.  The  first  probably  connects 
with  the  pantheism  which  sees  the  All  as  God,  and 
the  other  with  that  which  sees  God  as  the  All. 

We  have  already  had  another  example  of  this  in 
Lane's  Persian  friend  (p.  208  above).  He  used 
as  his  formula  not  Allah,  but  La  ildha  illd-lldh, 
''There  is  no  God  but  Allah."  The  Sayyid  Mur- 
tadk,  al-Ghazzali's  commentator,  here  remarks 
upon    the   different    value   of    these    two    phrases. 

I  James,  Varieties  0}  Religious  Experience,  pp.  383!.;  Tenny 
son,  Memoirs,  Vol.  II,  p.  473. 
a  Kim,  chap.  xi. 


258    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Allah  is  the  formula  used  by  those  with  whom 
drawing  (jadhba)  on  God's  side  predominates,  while 
the  longer  phrase  is  used  by  those  with  whom  their 
own  journeying  (suluk)  toward  God  comes  first.  In 
the  later  development  of  the  darwish  fraternities 
this  distinction  between  jadhba  and  sulilk  went 
much  farther.  Those  who  preferred  orderly  progress 
under  definite  law  were  sdliks,  "journeyers,"  while 
those  who  embarked  without  restraint  on  the  broad 
sea  of  their  feeling  of  God's  drawing  them  and 
attracting  them  to  himself  were  majdhubs,  ''at- 
tracted." The  one  party  held  fast  to  a  theological 
statement — half  of  the  fundamental  Muslim  creed — 
while  the  other  plunged  into  those  subjective  dream- 
ings  of  Allah  which  his  name  alone  might  provoke. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Allah,  for  Muslims,  is 
the  proper  name  of  God  like  Jehovah,  and  not  a 
common  noun  like  the  word  God.  In  the  end,  the 
distinctions  issued  in  the  now  primary  division 
between  the  darwishes  who  observe  the  outward 
usages  of  the  Muslim  faith  and  those  who  have 
dropped  all  such  observance,  although  they  con- 
tinue to  call  themselves  Muslims.  The  one  class  is 
called,  in  the  Persian  phrase,  bd-shar"^,  "with  law," 
and  the  other,  bi-shar^,  "without  law."  Those 
bl-shar^  not  only  reject  the  ritual  law,  considering 
themselves  raised  above  such  requirements,  but  are 
also,  in  teaching  and  practice,  simple  antinomians. 
This,  of  course,  was  very  far  from  al-Ghazzali's 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND    259 

teaching,  nor,  certainly,  has  his  commentator  any 
such  distinction  here  in  mind. 

The  commentator  now  enters  upon  some  further 
details  of  interest.  The  method  (tariqa)  here  laid 
down  by  al-Ghazzali  is  traced  back  on  two  lines  of 
teaching  descent  to  the  Prophet  himself.  It  had 
also  reached  the  commentator  in  a  similar  way  from 
one  of  al-Ghazzali's  contemporaries.  But  the  name 
by  which  it  is  known  is  the  Naqshbandite  method, 
from  a  certain  much  later  Muhammad  an-Naqsh- 
bandi,  who  founded  the  order  of  Naqshbandite 
darwishes,  with  this  as  their  rule,  and  died  in  A.  H. 
791  (a.  d.  1389).  It  was  not  until  more  than  fifty 
years  after  al-Ghazzali's  death  that  any  still  existent 
darwish  fraternities  were  founded  as  continuous 
corporations. 

These  authorities  all  agree  that  the  essence  of  the 
method  is  that  the  aspirant  should  abide  in  thought 
continuously  in  the  presence  of  the  Reality  {al-haqq, 
meaning  Allah),  without  perception  of  anything  else 
and  heedless,  through  the  existence  of  Allah,  of 
being  in  his  presence.  This  can  happen  only  through 
operation  of  the  divine  drawing  and  is  most  power- 
fully aided  by  companionship  with  a  shaykh  who 
is  drawn  in  the  same  way.  They  say,  also,  that  it 
can  be  attained  either  by  this  companionship  alone, 
or  by  thought  {dhikr)  of  Allah,  or  by  contempla- 
tion {murdqaba). 

I.  The  thought  of  God  (dhikr)  is  expressed  by 


26o    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

the  phrase  La  ildha  illd-lldh,  "There  is  no  God 
but  Allah,"  and  its  effect  is  part  denial  and  part 
assertion.  The  first  phrase  is  denial,  and  with  it 
there  is  banished  the  existence  of  humanity;  the 
second  phrase  is  assertion,  and  there  appears  with 
it  one  of  the  effects  worked  by  the  divine  drawing. 
This  effect  differs  according  to  the  preparation. 
In  the  case  of  some  the  first  effect  to  appear  is  dis- 
tance {ghayba)  from  all  but  God;  in  the  case  of 
others  the  result  is  "thankful  praise"  (shukr)  and 
distance  and,  thereafter,  the  existence  of  non- 
existence is  assured  to  him,  and,  finally,  he  is  ennobled 
with  complete  "passing  away"  (Jand).  Another 
expounder  took  Qur.,  xviii,  23,  "And  remember 
thy  Lord  when  thou  forgettest,"  and  explained, 
"when  thou  forgettest  other  than  him;  then  thou 
forgettest  thyself;  then  thou  forgettest  thy  remem- 
bering in  thy  remembering;  then  thou  forgettest 
in  Allah's  remembering  thee,  all  thy  remembering." 
The  loftiest  and  most  complete  of  the  stages  is 
"passing  away"  (Jand),  when  there  does  not  remain 
to  the  traveler  information  concerning  anything  save 
Allah.  The  object  of  this  school  is  the  beholding  of 
Allah — the  reaHty — just  as  though  you  saw  him; 
the  habit  of  being  present  with  him  is  called  "behold- 
ing" (mushdhada) ,  and  this  takes  place  through  the 
heart. 

2.  "Contemplation"  is  the  easiest  of  the  methods 
and  leads  most  directly  to  God.     It  is  scrutiny  of  the 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     261 

holy  idea,  lofty  beyond  limit  and  without  like,  which 
is  understood  from  the  blessed  name  Allah  without 
the  intermediary  of  any  expressions,  Arabic  or  Per- 
sian or  otherwise.     After  the  understanding  comes 
the  holding  of  that  idea  in  the  imagination  and  the 
facing  with  all  the  forces  and  perceptions  toward  the 
physical  heart  and  continuing  that  and  taking  pains 
in  clinging  to  it  until  the  taking  of  pains  departs,  and 
that  becomes  a  habit.    If  this  is  difficult,  let  the  seeker 
image  that  idea  as  a  wide  light   encompassing   all 
existences,  seen  and  known.     Then  let  him  set  this 
over  against  his  inner  eye  and,  holding  it  fast,  turn 
with  all  his  forces  and  perceptions  to  the  physical 
heart,  until  the  inner  eye  be  strengthened  and  the 
form  depart;   and  the  appearance  of  the  sought-for 
idea  thereupon  be  firm.     On  account  of  the  greater 
ease   and   immediacy   of   this   method   al-Ghazzali 
limited  himself  to  describing  it  above.      It  leads, 
also,  directly  to  the  miraculous  powers  of  walls  as 
God's  representatives.     By  it,  too,  is  made  possible 
the  control  of  thoughts   and,   by  divine  gift,   the 
power  of  looking  into  others  and  illuminating  their 
inner  being.     When  it  is  a  habit,  there  results  con- 
tinuance of  union  with  God  and  receiving  of  his 
speech;  this  is  the  idea  behind  the  words,  "joining" 
ijanf)  and  "receiving"  {qahul). 

3.  The  method  connected  with  a  shaykh  has  the 
same  advantage  as  Hes  in  (i),  that  of  the  "thought" 
{dhikr)  of  God,  only  companionship  with  the  shaykh 


262    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

helps  to  bring  forth  companionship  with  God,  who 
is  "thought  of."  The  seeker  ought,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  preserve  the  effect  which  he  perceives  to 
result  from  his  companionship  with  his  shaykh.  If 
there  is  any  break,  he  returns  to  that  companionship 
until  the  effect  returns.  This  he  does,  time  after 
time,  until  that  mode  becomes  a  habit.  Sometimes 
there  results  from  this  companionship  such  love  and 
attraction  that  the  figure  of  the  shaykh  is  held  in  the 
imagination,  and  there  is  a  turning  to  the  physical 
heart  with  it  until  distance  (ghayba)  and  passing 
away  from  the  self  (Jand)  result. 

To  this  method  one  of  the  later  shaykhs  made  an 
addition  which  he  said  had  been  taught  him  and 
urged  upon  him  by  al-Khadir.  This  was  the  re- 
straining of  the  breath  in  the  course  of  "remem- 
bering" and  "contemplation."  He  made  it  one  of 
the  fundamentals  of  the  method  and  said  that  labor 
should  be  given  to  a  certain  constraint  between  two 
breaths  so  that  the  breath  should  not  go  in  or  out 
without  attention.  This  became  a  usage  generally 
followed  and  an  addition  of  which  the  commen- 
tator approved.  Whether  al-Ghazzali  would  have 
approved  is  another  matter.  Some  very  singular 
mechanical  aids  came  later  to  be  in  more  or  less 
repute.  Undoubtedly,  suggestive  usages  and  the 
association  of  certain  ideas  with  them  would  go  far 
to  help  the  self-hypnotizing  process.  With  the 
views  stated  here  of  the  value  of  a  shaykh,  the 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     263 

experience  of  Tawakkul  Beg  should  be  com- 
pared.^ 

We  can  now  return  to  al-Ghazzali  himself.  As 
might  be  expected,  the  speculative  theologians 
objected  to  the  general  use  of  this  method  of  reaching 
religious  truth.  They  admitted  its  existence  and 
that  it  was  the  method  of  prophets,  but  it  was  diffi- 
cult and  slow,  and  its  conditions  were  hard  to  com- 
bine. The  propitious  state  of  insight  lasted  only  a 
moment;  a  breath  from  the  outside  destroyed  it. 
The  heart,  too,  was  essentially  mobile  and  uncertain. 
It  was  easily  affected  by  physical  conditions,  and, 
under  these,  pathological  and  destructive  imaginings 
might  arise,  which  might  then  be  trusted  and  fol- 
lowed with  disastrous  results.  These  we  should 
now  call  non-veridical  hallucinations,  and  al-Ghaz- 
zali, too,  was  well  aware  of  their  possibility.  Fin- 
ally, a  prophet  might  become  a  canon  lawyer  by 
inspiration,  but  for  ordinary  men  there  was  no 
way  except  study;  any  other  course  was  like  exchang- 
ing farming  for  treasure-digging. 

But  the  essential  difference  between  the  two 
methods — insight  by  the  heart  and  study — must  now 
be  made  clear.  Al-Ghazzali  does  it  again  by  means 
of  two  illustrations.  One  is  a  really  startling  antici- 
pation of  Wordsworth's  "eternal  deep,  haunted 
forever  by  the  eternal  mind,"  and  of  the  still  more 
recent  conception  of  a  subliminal  consciousness  in 

I  See  above,  pp.  195  ff. 


264    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

direct  touch  with  the  infinite.  Let  there  be  imagined 
a  pond  into  which  water  flows  in  streams  from  the 
higher-lying  ground.  And  let,  also,  the  bed  of  the 
pond  be  dug  up  until  there  rises  into  it,  from  the 
springs  of  the  earth,  water  purer  and  more  abundant 
than  that  which  the  streams  afford.  Then,  if  the 
streams  are  closed  up,  the  water  will  still  rise  in  the 
pond,  and  will  do  so  even  more  spontaneously  and 
steadily.  This  pond  is  the  heart;  the  water  which 
pours  in  from  the  streams  is  knowledge  coming  by 
way  of  the  five  senses;  the  water  which  rises  from 
the  springs  is  the  knowledge  which  comes  directly 
to  the  heart.  When  the  paths  of  the  senses  are 
closed,  from  the  depths  of  the  heart  there  will  rise 
knowledge  still  purer  and  more  abundant. 

But  it  may  be  said,  "There  are  veins  of  water  in 
the  earth  which  thus  rise,  but  whence  does  knowl- 
edge flow  directly  into  the  heart?"  The  answer 
comes  by  asking  another  question.  .  How  does 
knowledge  come  to  the  heart  in  any  case  ?  Al- 
Ghazzali  views  it  thus.  For  all  that  is,  or  is  done 
in  the  world,  God  has  written  on  the  Preserved 
Tablet  (al-lawh  al-mahjuz)  something  that  can  be 
compared  to  an  architect's  plan  for  a  house.  Of 
course  this  is  only  using  the  qur^anic  expression  to 
say  that  all  earthly  things  and  doings  exist  and  have 
always  existed  definitely  registered  in  the  spiritual 
world.  According  to  this  plan,  then,  the  world  has 
been  created  and  is  being  conducted.     It  has  now 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     265 

become  material  (jismdni)  and  factual  (haqlqi) .  From 
this  second  is  derived  a  third  corresponding  existence 
in  the  senses  and  in  the  imagination,  or  picturing 
power  of  the  mind  (al-khaydl).  Thence,  finally, 
comes  a  fourth,  an  intellectual  form  of  existence 
i^aqll),  in  the  heart.  Thus  things  have  four  exist- 
ences, and  in  this  way  comes  our  ordinary  knowledge 
of  the  outside  world.  But  is  it  so  ordinary  ?  How 
can  the  eye  take  in  the  unbounded  universe,  or  the 
mind  know  that  which  is  outside  itself,  or  retain  the 
knowledge  of  that  which  has  passed  away  ?  It  can 
be  only  by  an  act  of  beneficence  of  the  divine  wisdom 
that  there  can  come  these  existences  in  the  senses,  in 
the  imagination  and  in  the  heart.  We  could  never 
perceive  a  thing  that  did  not  reach  us,  and  unless 
there  were  something  in  our  being  corresponding  to 
the  world,  we  could  never  retain  any  knowledge  of 
what  had  gone  by.  That  means  that  the  human 
body  is  a  mysterious  structure,  combining  relation- 
ships with  the  material  and  with  the  spiritual  worlds. 
Al-Ghazzali,  in  short,  forces  us  back  on  the  primary 
mystery  of  the  relation  of  mind  and  body.  Man's 
body  is  the  link,  but  it  and  its  operations  are,  none 
the  less,  perpetual  miracles. 

If,  then,  we  are  asked  how  the  heart  sees,  the 
answering  question  is  pertinent,  How  do  the  eye, 
the  imagination,  the  mind  see,  retain,  know?  No  more 
nor  less  miraculous  is  the  vision  which  the  heart  has 
directly  of  the  plans  on  the  Preserved  Tablet.    The 


266    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

evidence  for  this  as  fact  is  the  evidence  of  those  who 
have  attained  to  such  knowledge;  it  is  the  same  in 
kind,  though  not  so  large  in  amount,  as  the  evidence 
for  the  fact  of  vision.  Direct  heart-vision  is  a  per- 
manent property  belonging  to  the  nature  of  man, 
but  the  hearts  of  most  God  has  blinded  so  that  they 
cannot  see.  If  they  can,  by  suitable  meditations 
and  exercises,  raise  the  veils,  then  they  will  see  and 
know.     Every  man  is  potentially  a  seer  and  a  saint. 

The  heart,  then,  has  two  doorways;  one  opening 
on  the  spiritual  world,  and  the  other  on  the  five 
senses  which  take  hold  of  the  world  of  sense.  And 
the  one  of  these  worlds  corresponds  after  a  fashion 
to  the  other  world.  How  the  door  is  opened  to 
knowledge  through  the  senses  is  already  plain. 
Certainty  as  to  the  other  can  be  acquired  through 
considering  the  marvels  of  vision  and  how  the  heart 
is  instructed  as  to  the  future  or  the  past  in  sleep. 
That  doorway  is  opened  only  to  one  who  has  given 
himself  up  to  the  thought  of  God  and  keeps  himself 
aloof,  through  that  thought,  from  everything  else. 

But,  turning  from  the  two  means  of  access, 
al-Ghazzali  propounds  another  parable  to  explain 
the  different  methods  of  working  of  the  Sufis  and 
of  the  speculative  students  of  theology.  The  people 
of  China  and  the  people  of  Byzantium  once  com- 
peted before  one  of  the  kings  as  to  their  respective 
abilities  in  decorating.  So  the  king  gave  over  a 
vestibule  to  be  adorned  by  them;   one  side  by  the 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     267 

people  of  China,  and  the  other  by  the  people  of 
Byzantium.  A  curtain  was  let  down  between,  and 
none  knew  what  the  other  was  doing.  The  people 
of  Byzantium  set  to  work  with  all  manner  of  strange 
paints  and  dyes.  But  the  people  of  China  took 
nothing  behind  their  side  of  the  curtain  and  simply 
smoothed  and  polished  their  wall.  So  all  men 
wondered  what  they  could  be  doing  without  any 
paint  or  materials.  But  when  the  curtain  was 
removed,  their  wall  shone  like  a  mirror  and  reflected 
all  the  beautiful  work  of  the  Byzantine  artists,  with 
the  added  glory  of  brilliancy  and  clearness. 

Such  is  the  manner  of  working  of  God's  saints. 
They  strive  only  to  polish  and  purify  the  soul,  until 
it  may  reflect  clearly  the  spiritual  world.  But  specu- 
lative theologians,  like  the  people  of  Byzantium,  try 
to  adorn  it  with  all  manner  of  knowledge  and  science. 
Each  has  his  method.  But  however  that  may  be, 
rank  in  the  world  to  come  will  depend  upon  knowl- 
edge of  divine  things.  Both  purity  of  heart  and 
knowledge  in  the  heart  persist  there  with  the  hearts 
to  which  they  belong.  "The  dust  cannot  devour 
the  abode  of  faith,"  said  a  saint,  and  that  faith  is  a 
means  of  access  and  nearness  to  God;  there  can 
never  be  more  than  enough  of  it.  It  is  true  that 
there  are  all  manner  of  grades  of  spiritual  experience 
and  faith;  but  all  count.  A  man  who  has  a  little 
money  is  independent  (ghani)  to  that  extent,  and  so 
far  is  in  the  same  class  with  the  very  wealthy  man 


268    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

(al-ghanl).  So  with  faith,  and  spiritual  knowledge; 
these  are  as  lights  (so  spoken  of  in  the  Qur^dn) 
leading  to  God;  but  they  may  be  mere  tapers,  and 
they  may  be  as  the  sun. 

This  affects  the  doctrine  of  the  faith  that  is  to 
salvation.  He  who  has  over  a  grain  of  faith  will 
never  enter  the  Fire;  he  who  has  a  grain  or  less,  if 
he  has  any,  will  not  abide  in  the  Fire.  It  is  certain, 
from  the  teaching  of  the  Qur^dn,  that  there  are  many 
stations  in  the  Garden  just  as  there  are  divisions  in 
knowledge,  ranging  from  the  most  ignorant  believer 
on  authority  {muqallad)  to  the  most  experienced 
saint  i^drij). 

But  a  proof  may  still  be  needed  that  this  is  legally 
a  sound  method.  To  such  a  proof  al-Ghazzali 
now  turns.  This  section  is,  naturally,  not  of  the 
same  importance  to  us,  and  I  give  only  so  much 
here  as  may  be  of  value  for  our  knowledge  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  Islam.  Ibn  Khaldun's  argument, 
on  pp.  165  ff.  above,  should  be  compared.  No  one, 
says  al-Ghazzall,  who  has  had  any  experience,  how- 
ever slight,  of  such  falling  of  knowledge  into  the 
heart,  he  knew  not  whence,  will  ask  for  any  other 
proof  that  he  is  within  the  law.  As  for  him  who 
has  had  no  such  personal  experience,  let  him  con- 
sider the  following  proofs.  These  divide  into  pas- 
sages in  the  Qur^dn,  traditions  from  the  Prophet, 
experiences  and  stories  from  the  saints.  The  first 
are  all  somewhat   general   and   deal  with  turning. 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     269 

Striving,  pressing  towards  God,  elaborate  develop- 
ments of  the  metaphor  of  ''light,"  promises  of  aid 
toward  the  understanding  of  the  Qur^dn.  Nothing 
seems  to  go  beyond  the  devout  life,  seeking  support 
and  guidance  from  its  Lord.  One  somewhat  fa- 
mous text  is  Qur.  xviii,  64:  "And  we  taught  him 
some  knowledge  of  our  own  {min  ladunnd).''^  All 
knowledge  is  of  God,  but  transcendental  knowledge 
(al-Hlm  ar-rabbdnl,  al-ladunl)  is  that  which  is  given 
directly  to  the  heart  without  passing  through  human 
teaching.  So  the  true  scholar  {^dlim)  is  not  he  who 
learns  a  book  by  heart,  which  he  may  forget,  but  he 
who  takes  knowledge  from  his  Lord  {min  rabhihi) 
at  what  time  he  wills,  without  learning  by  heart  or 
studying. 

The  stories  of  saints  given  are  largely  of  the  nature 
of  thought-transference,  and  very  simple  cases  at 
that.  One  of  the  more  picturesque  is  as  follows: 
Someone  went  in  one  day  to  ash-Shibli,  a  celebrated 
mystic  and  ascetic  who  died  A.  H.  334  (a.  d.  945-46), 
and  ash-Shibli  said  to  him,  "Tested!  Ahmad." 
Said  Ahmad  to  him,  "How  was  that?"  "I  was 
sitting,"  he  answered,  "and  there  suddenly  came 
into  my  mind,  'You  are  a  miser.'  I  said,  'I  am  not 
a  miser,'  but  the  thought  kept  coming  back  to  me 
and  saying,  'Nay,  but  you  are  a  miser.'  So  I  said, 
'Whatever  God  sends  me  today  I  will  give  to  the 
first  poor  man  I  meet.'  My  thought  was  hardly  com- 
plete when  there  came  to  me  a  friend  of  Mu^nis,  the 


270    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Khadim,  and  brought  me  fifty  dinars,  saying,  'Use 
them  for  your  affairs.'  So  I  rose  and  went  out  and 
there  was  a  poor  blind  man,  sitting  before  a  barber, 
who  was  shaving  his  head.  I  went  to  him  and 
offered  to  him  the  dinars,  but  he  said,  'Give  them 
to  the  barber.'  I  said, '  But  they  amount  to  such  and 
such.'  He  said,  'Have  we  not  said  to  you  that  you 
are  a  miser  ? '  So  I  offered  them  to  the  barber,  but 
he  said,  '  When  this  poor  man  sat  down  before  me  I 
determined  not  to  take  anything  on  his  account.' 
"So,"  finishes  ash-Shibli,  "I  cast  the  dinars  into  the 
Tigris  and  said,  'None  honoreth  thee  but  God 
abaseth  him.' "  Here  ash-Shibll  had  a  flash  of 
insight  into  himself,  which  he  would  not  at  first 
believe,  but  which  was  justified  by  his  protest  to  the 
poor  man;  and  the  poor  man. read  from  the  mind 
of  ash-Shibli  his  previous  experience.  So  he 
comments  upon  himself  in  bitter  humor  that  he 
must  be  so  low  that  no  one  can  honor  him  with  a 
present  without  being  dishonored  by  the  throwing 
away  of  his  present.  His  trial  had  shown  him  that 
no  one  could  come  to  any  good  through  him. 

The  following  are  of  a  different  kind  and  humor. 
The  commentator  tells  them  from  al-Qushayri,  a 
Sufi  writer  who  died  in  A.  h.  465  (a.  d.  1072-3) :  Su- 
fyan  ath-Thawri  once  pilgrimaged  along  with  Shay- 
ban  ar-Ra^,  and  a  lion  encountered  them.  Then 
said  Sufyan  to  Shayban,  "Don't  you  see  this  lion  ?" 
But  Shayban  said,  "Don't  be  afraid,"  and  he  took 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     271 

hold  of  the  lion's  ears  and  rubbed  them,  and  the 
lion  wagged  his  tail  and  moved  his  ears.  Then 
Sufyan  said,  "What  kind  of  showing  off  is  this?" 
But  Shayban  replied,  "  If  it  were  not  for  the  fear  of 
showing  off,  I  would  set  my  provender  upon  his 
back  until  I  came  to  Mecca."  The  miraculous 
power  of  waits  should  be  concealed  by  them  and 
never  turned  to  a  show  or  a  boast.  The  miracle  of 
a  prophet,  on  the  other  hand,  is  always  a  public  sign. 
Another  story  is  that  Ibrahim  ibn  Adham  was  in 
a  traveling  company  and  a  lion  encountered  them. 
But  Ibrahim  went  to  it  and  said,  ''O  lion!  if  thou 
hast  been  commanded  anything  against  us,  execute 
it;  and  if  not,  depart!"  And  the  lion  departed. 
Another  narrator  says,  ''I  was  with  Ibrahim  al- 
Khawwas  in  open  field,  and  when  we  were  beside  a 
tree  a  lion  came.  So  I  climbed  the  tree  and  remained 
there,  unsleeping,  until  the  morning.  But  al-Khaw- 
was  lay  down  and  slept,  and  the  lion  sniffed  him 
all  over  from  head  to  foot  and  went  away.  The 
second  night  we  passed  in  a  mosque  in  a  village,  and 
a  bug  fell  upon  his  face  and  bit  him,  and  he  moaned 
and  cried  out.  So  I  said,  'This  is  a  wonder' 
Yesternight  you  were  not  troubled  at  the  lion,  and 
tonight  you  cry  out  for  a  bug.'  But  he  said,  'As 
for  yesterday,  that  was  a  state  in  which  I  was  with 
God  most  high;  but  as  for  tonight,  this  is  a  state  in 
which  I  am  with  myself.'  "  For  such  minor  miracles 
(kardmdt)  parallel  testimony  can  be  found,  not  only 


272    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

in  the  hagiology,  but  in  the  psychology,  abnormal 
and  normal,  of  all  peoples.  The  lion  stories,  for 
example,  are  of  exactly  the  same  type  as  the  case 
reported  by  Dr.  Weir  Mitchell, '  of  a  woman  who, 
in  a  secondary  state  of  personality,  wandered  in  the 
woods  and  treated  with  similar  familiarity  the  bears 
which  she  met.  St.  Francis,  too,  appears  to  have 
had  like  powers. 

But  al-Ghazzall,  like  our  present  day  psychical 
investigators,  knew  very  well  that  any  number  of 
such  stories  could  force  no  conviction  on  the  deniers 
who  had  themselves  experienced  nothing  of  the  kind. 
They  had  not  met  al-Khadir  face  to  face,  or  heard 
the  bodiless  voice  of  a  hdtif,  the  bath  qol  of  the 
Hebrews,  the  hai^wv  of  Socrates  and  the  auditory 
hallucination 2  of  modem  psychology,  and  they  were 
very  sure  that  no  one  else  had.  So  he  falls  back 
on  two  points  which  even  they  could  not  deny. 
The  first  is  the  marvel  of  a  veridical  dreaming  (cf. 
above  pp.  70  ff.).  If  that  is  possible  in  sleep,  it 
should  not  be  impossible  in  waking;  for  the  only 
difference  between  the  two  states  is  the  slumber  of 

1  Transactions  of  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia,  April 
4,  1888;  quoted  in  James,  Psychology,  Vol.  II,  pp.  381-84,  and 
Myers,  Hwnan  Personality,  Vol.  I,  pp.  336,  337;  also  the  story 
of  the  saint  and  the  tiger  in  Swynnerton,  Indian  Nights'  Enter- 
tainment, pp.  32  f. 

2  There  are  curious  cases,  also,  of  visual  hallucination.  Ash- 
Shadhili  (d.  A.  h.  654  =  a.  d.  1256)  said,  "They  sometimes  ask 
me  a  question  to  which  I  do  not  know  the  answer,  and  lo !  there  it 
is  written  in  the  corner  on  the  reed-mat  or  the  wall." 


MYSTERY  OF  MAN'S  BODY  AND  MIND     273 

the  senses  and  the  lack  of  occupation  with  sensu- 
ous percepts.  In  this  distinction,  of  course,  our 
psychology  will  hardly  bear  him  out.  The  second 
is  the  fact  that  a  prophet  gives  information  about 
the  unseen  world  and  future  things;  that  all  ad- 
mitted. But  a  prophet  is  simply  a  man  to  whom  the 
essential  natures  of  things  have  been  revealed,  and 
who  is  occupied  with  the  improvement  of  man- 
kind. The  existence,  therefore,  is  not  impossible  of 
others,  possessing  the  first  characteristic  but  having 
nothing  to  do  with  the  second.  These  are  the  walls ^ 
saints,  who  have  no  commission  to  preach,  but  only 
to  cultivate  their  own  souls.  This  is  another  exam- 
ple of  the  argument  from  classification  noticed  above, 
pp.  63  and  152. 

Anyone,  then,  who  admits  these  two  things,  must 
admit  the  two  gateways  of  the  heart,  an  external  one 
through  the  senses  and  an  internal  one,  opening 
directly  on  the  heavenly  kingdom.  Through  both 
knowledge  must  come,  mediate  and  immediate,  and 
the  truth  of  the  description  of  the  heart  as  swaying 
between  the  world  of  the  senses  and  the  Unseen  is 
evident.  How  great  a  thing  this  is  must  also  be 
plain.  Through  the  heart  man  can  come  into 
direct  and  intimate  association  with  God  and  know 
what  angels  know  not.  They  cannot  see  what  is 
in  the  heart,  and  the  heart  of  the  man  of  spiritual 
experience  {^drif)  can  tell  him  things  which  they  can- 
not.   For  the  Muslim,  man  is  higher  than  the  angels. 


LECTURE  X 

THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART  AND 
THE  NATURE  OF  EVIL  SPIRITS 

We  pass  now  to  the  temptations  which  assail  the 
heart.  The  fundamental  conception  here  is  the 
whispering  (ivaswds)  of  the  devil  to  the  heart. 
Twice  in  the  Qur^dn  the  expression  is  used  distinctly 
of  the  devil  (vii,  19;  xx,  118);  once  uncertainly,  but 
of  something  evil  (cxiv,  4,  5)  and  once  (1.  15)  of  the 
soul  (najs),  evidently  as  inciting  to  evil.  In  Muslim 
theological  and  ethical  works  the  word  has  come  to 
be  normal  for  such  satanic  incitation. 

Al-Ghazzall  divides  this  subject  into  five  sections: 
(i)  how  the  devil  gains  rule  over  the  heart  by  "whis- 
pering" and  the  meaning  of  "whispering"  gener- 
ally; (2)  the  different  modes  of  the  approach  of  the 
devil  to  the  heart;  (3)  what  "whisperings"  in  the 
heart  the  creature  is  punished  for  and  for  what  he 
is  forgiven;  (4)  is  it  conceivable  that  "whisperings" 
can  be  cut  off  entirely  at  times  of  the  thought  (dhikr) 
of  God  ?  (5)  with  what  speed  the  heart  turns  and 
changes,  and  how  hearts  differ  in  this  respect. 

I.  The  heart  is  like  a  round  building  with  doors 
open  on  all  sides,  or  a  target  struck  by  arrows  from 
all  directions,  or  a  mirror  over  which  forms  are  con- 
tinually passing,  or  a  pond  into  which  waters  are 

974 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       275 

constantly  flowing;  ever-renewed  and  ever-changing 
impressions  are  being  produced  upon  it. 

They  come  through  the  senses  externally,  and 
internally  through  the  imagination,  the  fleshly  ap- 
petite, anger — the  complex  nature  of  man  in  gen- 
eral. Whenever  he  perceives  anything  by  the  senses, 
an  effect  is  produced  on  his  heart.  So,  too,  when 
the  fleshly  appetite  is  moved  by  overfeeding.  And 
even  if  the  senses  are  closed  the  imagination  moves 
from  thing  to  thing  and  the  heart  with  it  from  state 
to  state.  So  it  is  in  constant  change  on  account 
of  these  causes.  The  most  specific  of  these  impres- 
sions are  the  ideas  which  occur  to  the  mind  (khawd- 
tir;  literally  Einfdlle),  coming  from  thoughts  and 
recollections.  These  move  operations  of  the  will; 
for  a  thing  must  be  thought  of  before  it  can  be 
intended  or  willed;  then  the  will  moves  the  body. 
Next,  these  ideas  can  be  divided  into  those  which 
summon  to  good  and  those  which  summon  to  evil. 
The  first  are  called  ilhdni  and  the  second  waswdSy 
"whispering."  The  causer  of  the  first  is  called  an 
angel,  and  the  causer  of  the  second  a  devil  {shaytdn). 
The  divine  benignity  by  which  the  heart  is  prepared 
to  receive  ideas  inciting  to  good  is  called  ''help" 
(tawfiq)  and  the  opposite  is  "seduction"  and"  deser- 
tion." "Angel,"  then,  is  an  expression  for  one  of  God's 
creations  whose  business  is  the  urging  of  good  and 
adding  of  knowledge  and  unveiling  of  the  truth  and 
promising  of  good  and  commanding  kindness;   "the 


276    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

devil"  is  an  expression  for  a  creature  whose  business 
is  the  opposite  of  that,  promising  evil  and  com- 
manding vileness  and  scaring  by  the  threat  of  poverty 
when  there  is  solicitude  for  the  good.'  So  "whis- 
pering" is  over  against  ilhdm  and  the  devil  against 
the  angel  and  "help"  against  "desertion."  As  has 
been  said  in  the  Qur^dn  (li,  49),  "  Of  every  thing  we 
have  created  a  pair,"  and  all  things  are  coupled  in 
apposition  except  God  himself. 

So  the  heart  is  pulled  about  between  the  devil  and 
the  angel.  It  has  two  traveling  companions,  as 
Muhammad  has  said;  for  the  one,  God  should  be 
praised;  and  against  the  other,  his  aid  should  be 
sought.  This,  too,  is  the  meaning  of  his  saying 
that  the  heart  of  the  believer  is  between  two  of  God's 
fingers.  It  is  a  metaphorical  expression  for  God's 
working  upon  it  through  the  angel  and  the  devil. 
By  its  created  nature  the  heart  is  equally  fitted  to 
be  affected  by  either.  Passion  (hawd)  may  be 
followed  or  opposed.  In  the  one  case,  the  devil 
settles  in  the  heart  and  rules  it;  in  the  other  case, 
the  angels.  But  no  heart  is  free  from  fleshly  appe- 
tite and  anger  and  desire,  and  therefore  the  devil 
and  his  whisperings  always  haunt  it.  The  Prophet 
said,  "  There  is  not  one  of  you  who  has  not  a  devil." 
They  said  to  him,  "  Even  thou,  O  apostle  of  God  ?" 
He  replied,  "Even  I;  only  God  aided  me  against 
him,  and  he  gave  it  up  and  commands  only  good, " 

^Qur.  ii,  271. 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       277 

the   meaning   of   which   is    that  when    the   fleshly 
appetite  keeps  within  due  measure,  the  devil  who 
has  clothed  himself  in  it  can  command  good  only. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  those  in  whose  hearts  passion 
and  the  lusts  are  strong  come  to  be  ruled  by  the 
devil,  who  becomes  their  real  god.     The  cure  is  to 
empty  the  heart;  but  more  curious  prescriptions  are 
sometimes  given.     One  complained  to  the  Prophet 
that  the  devil  came  between  him  and  his  prayers. 
"That  is  a  devil,"  said  Muhammad,  "who  is  called 
Khinzib.     Whenever  you  feel  him,  seek  refuge  with 
God  from  him  and  spit  thrice  on  your  left."     But 
the  thought  of  God  in  general  is  the  most  effective 
means.     To   destroy  the  whisperings  of  the  devil 
another  thought  must  be  put  in  the  mind.     That  of 
God  and  of  the  things  connected  with  him  should 
therefore  be  used,  for  in  it  the  devil  never  can  find 
room.     Hence,  the  virtue  of  such  phrases  as,   "I 
seek  refuge  with  God  from  the  stoned  devil,"  and 
"There  is  no  strength  or  power  save  in  God,  the 
High,  the  Mighty." 

The  lusts,  then,  so  run  in  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
men,  and  the  rule  of  the  devil  over  them  is,  in  conse- 
quence, so  normal  that  at  all  points  the  devil  lies 
in  wait  for  them.  Even  in  their  embracing  of  Islam, 
in  their  migrating  with  the  Prophet  to  al-Madlna, 
in  their  fighting  in  the  path  of  God,  the  devil  has 
been  able  to  suggest  evil.  He  has  also  the  art  to 
suggest  things  praiseworthy  in  themselves  and  yet 


278    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

so  to  develop  them  that  they  lead  to  destruction. 
A  description  is  given,  for  example,  how  a  man  can 
be  led  into  preaching  and  through  it  brought  into 
spiritual  pride,  love  of  popularity  and  ambition. 
This,  with  little  doubt,  is  autobiographic;  al-Ghaz- 
zali  preached  at  one  time  and  gave  it  up  for  the  sake 
of  his  own  soul.^  Another  example  is  that  Satan 
(Iblls)  appeared  once  to  Jesus  and  said  to  him, 
"  Say, '  There  is  no  God  save  Allah.'  "  Jesus  replied, 
''That  is  a  true  word,  but  I  will  not  say  it  for  thy 
saying."  Under  its  good  are  implications.  It  is 
the  duty,  then,  of  the  creature  to  watch  every  solici- 
tude that  runs  in  his  mind  and  test  it  whence  it 
comes.  Absolutely  to  cut  off  these  things  there  is 
only  one  way.  Let  him  retire  into  soHtude  in  a 
darkened  house — this  will  block  the  senses,  the 
avenues  outward;  let  him  strip  himself  of  family 
and  fortune — this  will  diminish  the  avenues  of 
whisperings  from  within;  let  him  occupy  himself 
with  the  thought  of  God — this  will  keep  off  the 
imaginations  which  flow  into  the  heart;  let  him 
constantly  draw  his  heart  Godward  and  strive  on  in 
this  way — the  striving  will  last  his  life.  The  gates  of 
the  devil  to  the  heart  cannot  be  finally  locked;  they 
must  always  be  watched.  The  devil  never  sleeps; 
"Then  we  should  rest !"  said  one  saint.  Yet  he  can. 
be  worn  out  for  a  time,  as  a  wayfaring  man  wears 
out  his  beast  in  travel. 

I  "Life,"  Journal  0}  American  Oriental  Society,  Vol.  XX,  pp. 
lOI  fif. 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       279 

And,  again,  while  the  devil  has  many  gates  there 
is  but  one  by  which  the  angels  come.  So,  while  he 
has  many  paths  to  which  he  calls  men,  there  is  but 
one  true  path.  The  Prophet  once  drew  a  line  upon 
the  ground.  ''That  is  the  path  of  God,"  he  said, 
Then  he  drew  many  lines  to  right  and  left.  ''On 
each  of  these,"  he  said,  "stands  a  devil  calling  you." 
Finding  his  way  here  man  is  like  a  traveler  on  a  dark 
night  in  a  desert  crossed  by  innumerable  trails 
A  discerning  eye  and  the  morning  light  from  the 
Book  of  God  and  the  usage  of  the  Prophet  alone  can 
guide  him. 

In  what  has  preceded,  concerning  the  relation  of 
man  to  his  fleshly  nature,  a  curious  contradiction 
has  ruled — a  reflection,  perhaps,  of  the  unresolved 
paradox  of  man's  nature.  At  one  time  al-Ghazzall 
recognizes  the  necessary  part  which  the  fleshly 
appetites  and  emotions  play  in  the  maintenance 
of  human  life;  he  even  reckons  Satan  into  this  and 
finds  him  a  creation  of  God  for  God's  purposes,  a 
necessary  balance  to  the  angels.  But  at  another, 
the  absolute  ascetic  note  is  struck;  all  sensuous  life 
must  be  excluded;  existence  must  be  the  contem- 
plation of  God;  Satan  is  the  accursed  One.  How 
this  develops  will  appear.  Al-Ghazzali's  sense  of 
humanity  rose  above  his  theories. 

2.  But  a  knowledge  of  the  avenues  of  approach  of 
the  devil  is  also  necessary  and  is  as  absolute  a  duty 
of    the    individual    as    warding    them    oft\     These 


28o    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

avenues  of  approach  are  human  qualities,  and  are 
very  many.  Here  al-Ghazzali  can  give  only  the 
most  important;  as  it  were  the  great  gates  only  of 
the  City  of  Mansoul:  (a)  anger  and  fleshly  lust.  Of 
these  he  tells  this  legend.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  the  cause  of  the  fall  of  Satan  from  his  angelic 
state  was  his  refusal  to  adore  Adam  :^ 

Satan  met  Moses  and  said  "  Thou  art  he  whom  Allah  has 
chosen  to  be  his  Apostle  and  with  whom  he  has  spoken^ 
and  I  am  one  of  his  creatures.  I  have  sinned  and  desire  to 
repent;  so  intercede  for  me  with  my  Lord,  that  he  accept 
my  repentance."  To  this  Moses  agreed.  Then  when  he 
had  gone  up  into  the  mountain  and  spoken  with  his  Lord,  and 
was  about  to  descend,  his  Lord  said  to  him,  "Deliver  that  in- 
trusted to  thee."  So  Moses  said,  ''Thy  creature,  Satan,  de- 
sires to  repent."  And  Allah  revealed  to  Moses,  "  O  Moses,  thy 
request  is  granted;  command  him  that  he  adore  the  grave  of 
Adam,  that  his  repentance  may  be  accepted."  Then  Moses 
met  Satan  and  said  to  him,  "Thy  request  is  granted;  thou 
art  commanded  to  adore  the  grave  of  Adam  that  thy  repentance 
may  be  accepted."  But  he  was  angry  and  proud,  and  said, 
"I  did  not  adore  him  living,  and  shall  I  adore  him  dead?" 
Therefore  he  said,  "O  Moses,  thou  hast  a  right  against  me, 
because  thou  didst  intercede  for  me  with  thy  Lord.  If  thou 
remember  me,  then,  on  three  occasions,  I  shall  not  destroy 
thee.  Remember  me  when  thou  art  angry,  for  my  spirit  is 
in  thy  heart  and  my  eye  is  in  thy  eye  and  I  affect  thee  as  does 
thy  blood,  and  whenever  a  man  is  angry  I  blow  in  his  nostrils, 
and  he  knows  not  what  he  does.  And  remember  me  when 
thou  meetest  an  army  in  array,  for  when  one  of  mankind  meets 
an  army  in  array  I  make  him  to  remember  wife  and  child  and 

I  Qur.  vii,  lo  ff.  2  Ibid.,  iv,  162. 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       281 

folk,  and  he  turns  aside.  And  beware  thou  that  thou  sit  with 
a  woman  who  is  not  of  near  kin,  for  I  am  her  messenger  to 
thee  and  thy  messenger  to  her." 

This  story  is  regarded  as  a  warning  against  anger, 
desire  of  the  world  and  fleshly  lust.  It  is  a  curious 
and  distinctive  feature  of  Muslim  hortatory  legend 
that  the  warning  is  so  often  put  into  the  mouth  of 
Satan  himself,  (b)  Envy  and  cupidity,  too,  have  their 
tale.     It  is  narrated  that — 

when  Noah  entered  the  ark,  he  took  into  it  a  pair  of  every 
kind,  as  Allah  had  commanded  him.  Then  he  saw  in  the 
ark  an  old  man  whom  he  did  not  know;  and  he  said  to  him, 
"What  brought  thee  in?"  He  replied,  "I  came  in  that  I 
might  reach  the  hearts  of  thy  comrades,  that  their  hearts 
might  be  with  me  and  their  bodies  with  thee."  Said  Noah  to 
him,  ''Go  forth  from  here,  O  enemy  of  Allah!  for  thou  art 
accursed."  But  Satan  said  to  him,  "There  be  five  things 
by  which  I  destroy  mankind.  Shall  I  tell  thee  of  three  of  them 
or  of  two?"  And  Allah  revealed  to  Noah,  "Thou  hast  no 
need  of  the  three;  let  him  tell  thee  of  the  two."  So  Noah 
said,  "What  are  the  two?"  And  he  said,  "They  are  the 
two  which  give  me  not  the  lie;  they  are  the  two  which  fail 
me  not;  by  them  I  destroy  mankind;  they  are  envy  and 
cupidity.  For  by  envy  was  I  accursed,  and  became  a  pelted 
devil." 

(c)  Fullness  of  food,  even  though  it  be  lawful  and 
pure.     It  is  narrated — • 

that  Satan  appeared  to  John,  son  of  Zacharias,  and  he  saw 
upon  him  thongs  or  straps  for  every  purpose.  So  he  said, 
"O  Satan,  what  are  those  thongs?"  And  Satan  said,  "These 
are  the  lusts  by  which  I  reach  men."  He  said,  "And  have 
I    anything    among    them?"     Satan    replied.     "Sometimes 


282    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

thou  art  full  of  food,  and  we  make  thee  too  heavy  to  pray 
and  think  of  God."  He  said,  *' Is  there  aught  else?"  Satan 
replied,  "Nay."  Then  he  said,  ''I  make  my  vow  to  God 
that  I  will  never  fill  my  belly  with  food  again."  Then  said 
Satan,  "And  I  make  my  vow  to  God  that  I  will  never  give 
sound  counsel  to  a  Muslim  again." 

(d)  Love  of  adornment  in  furniture  and  clothing 
and  house.  When  that  begins  there  is  no  end  except 
death.  The  devil  need  only  start  it,  and  it  will  go 
of  itself. 

(e)  Importuning  men  for  aught.  This  because 
the  man  importuned  becomes,  as  it  were,  an  object 
of  worship,  and  to  insinuate  one's  self  with  him 
hypocrisy  and  false  carriage  are  used.  Ask  naught 
of  any  but  God. 

(/)  Haste  and  abandoning  of  steadiness  in  affairs. 
The  Prophet  said,  "Haste  is  of  the  devil  and 
patience  of  Allah."  And  there  stands  in  the 
Quf>dn  (xxi,  38),  "Man  was  created  out  of  haste," 
and  (xvii,  12)  "Man  was  a  hastener."  The  Muslim 
version  of  "  The  oracles  are  dumb  "  is  brought  to  bear 
on  this  as  follows: 

When  Jesus,  son  of  Mary,  was  born,  the  devils  came  to 
Satan  and  said,  "The  idols  have  hung  down  their  heads." 
He  said,  "This  is  something  which  must  have  happened; 
remain  ye."  So  he  flew  until  he  had  gone  to  the  east  and  the 
west  of  the  world,  and  found  naught.  Thereafter  he  found 
Jesus;  he  had  been  born,  and  lol  the  angels  surrounded  him. 
So  he  said,  "Lo!  a  prophet  was  born  yesternight.  Until 
this,  a  woman  never  conceived  nor  bore  but  I  was  present. 
So  despair  ye  that  the  idols  will  be  worshiped  after  this  night; 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       283 

but  approach  ye  the  sons  of  men  on  the  side  of  haste  and 
levity." 

(g)  Money  and  all  kinds  of  wealth.  That  is  every- 
thing above  what  is  absolutely  necessary.  The 
heart  of  him  who  has  only  so  much  is  at  leisure; 
with  more,  desires  arise.  This  is  illustrated  oddly. 
If  a  man  finds  one  hundred  dinars  on  the  road,  ten 
desires  spring  up,  each  of  which  to  accomplish  would 
need  a  hundred  dinars.  So  the  man  is  now  really 
in  need  of  nine  hundred  dinars  instead  of  having 
a  hundred  to  the  good.  It  is  related  that  Jesus  once 
used  a  stone  as  a  pillow.  Satan  passed  and  said, 
"O  Jesus,  thou  hast  desire  of  the  world!"  But 
Jesus  took  the  stone  from  under  his  head  and  cast  it 
away,  and  said,  "Take  it  along  with  the  world!" 
So  even  a  stone  may  do  mischief.  A  devotee  who 
has  one  is  tempted  by  it  as  he  stands  in  prayer;  the 
thought  that  he  could  use  it  as  a  pillow,  and  lie 
down  and  sleep  is  in  his  mind,  and  disturbs  his 
devotions.  How  much  more,  then,  the  apparatus 
of  luxury ! 

(h)  Miserliness  and  the  fear  of  poverty.  There 
is  much  in  the  Qur^dn  bearing  on  these,  for  it  con- 
stantly exhorts  to  alms  and  the  expending  of  money 
generously  and  to  trust  in  God.  Fear  of  poverty 
is  thus  almost  unbelief.  It  drives,  too,  to  the  fre- 
quenting of  market-places  which  are  the  especial 
abodes  of  devils. 

{i)  Partisanship  for  schools  and  leaders  in  the- 


284    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

ology  and  law.  On  the  hatred,  envy,  and  malice, 
slighting,  contempt,  and  open  hostility  to  which  that 
leads,  al-Ghazzali  has  much  to  say.  He  had  known 
it  himself  and  seen  it  around  him.  It  was  lip- 
devotion,  too.  He  who  professed  to  follow  one  of  the 
great  Imams  should  imitate  his  life  and  deeds. 
Otherwise  that  Imam  would  be  his  enemy  on  the 
day  of  resurrection.^ 

(;)  That  the  masses  try  to  study  the  problem  of 
the  nature  and  attributes  of  God.  It  is  the  devil  who 
leads  them  to  this,  and  involves  them  in  vain  imagin- 
ings and  finally  makes  them  unbelievers.  For  the 
stupidest  of  men  are  those  who  believe  most  fixedly 
in  their  own  reasoning  powers,  and  the  most  rational 
of  men  are  most  full  of  suspicion  of  themselves  The 
Prophet  said,  "The  devil  comes  to  one  of  you  and 
says,  '  Who  created  you  ? '  then  that  one  says,  'Allah, 
who  is  blessed  and  exalted  in  himself.'  Then  he 
asks,  *But  who  created  Allah  ?'^  When  that,  then, 
comes  to  one  of  you,  let  him  say,  '  I  believe  in  Allah 
and  in  his  apostle;'  then  that  will  pass  from  him." 
So  the  Prophet  did  not  command  that  this  "whis- 
pering" of  the  devil  should  be  investigated  and  dis- 
puted, for  it  comes  to  the  masses  rather  than  to  the 
'^Ulama.     It  is  the  duty,  rather,  of  the  masses  that 

1  On  al-Ghazzali's  own  experiences  of  this  kind,  in  his  unre- 
generate  days,  see  the  "Life"  of  him  in  the  Journal  0}  the  Ameri- 
can Oriental  Society,  Vol.  XX,  pp.  74,  104,  107. 

2  Cf.  Professor  J.  B.  Pratt's  Psychology  oj  Religious^  Belie}, 
p.  203. 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       285 

they  should  believe  and  be  submissive  and  occupy 
themselves  with  worship  and  the  gaining  of  their 
daily  bread,  and  leave  knowledge  to  the  ^Ulama.  It 
were  better  for  such  an  one  to  commit  adultery  or 
steal  than  to  busy  himself  with  theological  knowl- 
edge, for  he  who  without  sure  foundations  does  so, 
comes  to  unbelief,  he  knows  not  how. 

(k)  Evil  suspicion  of  Muslims.  There  stands  in 
the  Qur^dn  (xlix,  12),  "Avoid  ye  carefully  suspi- 
cion; some  suspicion  is  a  sin."  By  it  the  devil 
gets  hold  of  a  man,  and  leads  him  round  until  he 
thinks  himself  better  than  others.  But  giving 
occasion  of  suspicion  should  also  be  avoided.  Even 
the  Prophet  guarded  not  himself,  but  others,  by 
carefulness  there.  So  no  one  should  think  that  he 
need  not  be  careful  in  this  way,  however  high  and 
unshakable  his  repute.  The  evil  think  evil  of  all. 
Whenever  a  man  has  evil  suspicions  of  men  in  general 
and  seeks  faults  in  them,  know  that  he  is  vile  within 
and  that  that  is  his  vileness  oozing  out  of  him. 

Such  are  some  of  the  avenues  of  approach  of  the 
devil;   to  give  them  all  were  impossible. 

How,  then,  can  we  guard  these  ?  Is  the  thought 
{dhikr)  of  God  enough  ? 

In  answer:  The  treatment  is  to  close  these 
avenues  by  purifying  the  heart  from  evil  qualities. 
This  is  a  long  matter,  but  in  sum,  when  these  quali- 
ties have  been  rooted  out  from  the  heart,  the  devil 
has  left  to  him  only  transient  passage  through  it; 


286    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

he  can  throw  ideas  into  it,  but  has  no  fixed  abode 
there.  Then  the  thought  of  God  hinders  him,  for 
it  is  of  the  essence  of  that  thought  to  be  fixed  in  the 
heart  only  after  it  has  been  equipped  with  piety 
and  purity.  Otherwise  this  thought  is  mere  talk 
(hadlth  nafs),  does  not  rule  the  heart  and  cannot 
prevent  the  rule  of  the  devil.  He  is  like  a  hungry 
dog  who  comes  to  you.  If  you  have  anything  to  eat 
in  your  hand,  you  cannot  drive  him  off;  but  if  you 
have  nothing,  a  word  is  enough.  If  there  are  lusts 
in  the  heart,  the  thought  of  God  remains  without, 
and  cannot  pierce  to  the  interior  where  the  devil 
sits.  On  the  other  hand,  he  can  work  against  the 
saints  only  when  they  are  careless  for  a  moment. 
^-5  There  follows  a  number  of  formulae  used  in  such 
"thoughts"  of  God,  the  repeating  of  which  drives 
the  devil  away.  Stories,  too,  come  of  how  he  even 
confessed  their  efficiency  and  tried  to  bribe  saints 
not  to  teach  them  to  others.  They  had,  evidently, 
in  themselves  a  magical  value.  There  used  to  come 
to  the  Prophet  himself,  at  his  prayers,  and  disturb 
him,  a  devil  carrying  in  his  hand  a  firebrand.  He 
would  station  himself  before  the  Prophet  and  could 
not  be  driven  away  by  any  formula.  So  Gabriel 
came  and  taught  the  following,  to  which  this  devil 
yielded:  "I  take  refuge  in  the  perfect  words  of 
Allah,  which  neither  pure  nor  impure  can  ever  pass, 
from  the  evil  of  that  which  comes  forth  from  the 
earth  and  enters  into  it,  of  that  which  descends  from 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       287 

the  heavens  and  ascends  into  them,  from  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  night  and  the  day,  from  the  accidents  of 
the  night  and  the  day,  save  an  accident  that  brings 
good,  O  Merciful  One!"  On  another  occasion 
he  had  a  personal  struggle  with  the  devil,  and  the 
traditions  about  it  seem  to  be  the  confused  and 
contradictory  record  of  an  actual  episode  in  his 
pathological  development.  He  took  the  devil  by 
the  throat,  and  choked  him,  "and  I  did  not  let  him 
go  until  I  had  felt  the  cold  of  his  tongue  upon  my 
hand.  And  I  thought  of  tying  him  to  a  pillar  [of 
the  mosque]  until  you  could  come  in  the  morning 
and  see  him,  but  I  remembered  how  Solomon  had 
asked  ^  of  God  that  he  would  give  him  such  rule  as 
would  not  belong  to  any  after  him." 

But  these  formulae  are  of  value  only  when  used  by 
the  saintly.  Let  none  think  that  by  reciting  them 
at  any  time — an  opus  operatum — he  can  drive  away 
the  devil.  That  is  as  absurd  as  to  imagine  that  a 
medicine  will  take  effect  when  the  stomach  is  bur- 
dened with  food.  So,  "remembering"  {dhikr)  is  a 
medicine,  and  piety  (laqwd)  is  abstinence  from  food ; 
apply  piety  first  to  the  heart,  empty  it  of  fleshly 
lusts,  and  these  formulae  will  drive  the  devil  from 
you. 

But  all  this  leads  naturally  to  a  weighty  question  : 
This  inciter  to  different  acts  of  rebellion,  is  he  one 
devil   or   are   there   different   devils?    Al-Ghazzali 

I  Qur.  xxxviii,  34. 


288    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

does  not  approve  of  this  question  here.  For  prac- 
tical purposes  (}i4-mu^dmala)  it  is  enough  to  drive 
the  enemy  away;  ''Eat  the  vegetable,  wherever 
it  may  come  from,  and  ask  not  about  the  garden." 
What  is  plain  in  the  light  of  reflection  on  the  evidence 
given  by  tradition  is  that  there  are  armies  of  devils, 
and  each  kind  of  sin  has  a  devil  of  its  own.  This 
would  be  plain  of  itself;  the  variety  of  effects  leads 
back  to  variety  of  causes. 

As  for  the  armies,  many  differing  accounts  are 
given  of  their  origin.  But  they  all  spring  from  Satan 
who  is  their  father.  He  has  especially  five  sons, 
each  with  his  metier:  Thabr,  al-A^war,  Miswat, 
Dasim,  and  Zalanbur.  Thabr  stirs  up  trouble;  he 
brings  tearing  of  garments  and  slapping  of  cheeks. 
Al-A'^war's  department  is  fornication;  Miswat's  is 
lying;  Dasim  makes  a  husband  reproach  his  wife 
and  be  angry  with  her;  Zalanbur  is  in  charge  of 
markets — hence  the  continual  wrangling  and  striv- 
ing there.  Khinzib  interferes  with  prayer  and 
Walahan  with  ritual  ablution.  These  are  the  best- 
known  names,  but  other  writers  enter  into  greater 
detail. 

So,  too,  there  are  armies  of  angels,  and  each 
specializes  in  the  same  way.  Every  believer,  says 
one  authority,  has  one  hundred  and  sixty  as  a  guard; 
if  he  were  left  to  himself  for  an  instant,  the  devils 
would  snatch  him  away.  The  relations  of  men, 
devils  and  angels  are  described  thus  curiously : 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       289 

After  Adam  had  fallen  to  earth — the  Muslim  Fall  was 
literal,  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  of  the  Earthly  Paradise — 
he  said,  ''O  my  Lord!  if  thou  dost  not  aid  me  against  this 
one  between  whom  and  myself  Thou  hast  put  hostility,  I 
shall  not  be  strong  enough  for  him."  The  Lord  said,  "A 
son  will  not  be  born  to  thee  without  an  angel  being  put  in 
charge  of  him."  But  he  said,  "O  my  Lord!  give  me  more." 
And  the  Lord  said,  "I  will  requite  an  evil  deed  once,  and  a 
good  deed  tenfold,  besides  what  I  increase."  But  he  said, 
"O  my  Lord!  give  me  more!"  The  Lord  said,  "The  gate 
of  repentance  is  open  so  long  as  the  spirit  is  in  the  body." 
But  Satan  said,  ''O  my  Lord!  if  Thou  dost  not  aid  me 
against  this  creature  whom  thou  hast  honored  over  me,  I 
shall  not  be  strong  enough  for  him."  The  Lord  said,  "There 
shall  not  be  born  to  him  a  child,  but  one  shall  be  born  to  thee 
also."  But  Satan  said,  "O  my  Lord!  give  me  more."  The 
Lord  said,  "Thou  shalt  flow  in  them  as  their  blood,  and  take 
their  bosoms  for  your  abodes."  But  Satan  said,  "O  my 
Lord!  give  me  more."  The  Lord  said,  "Assemble  upon 
them  with  thy  horse  and  thy  foot,  and  share  with  them  wealth 
and  children,  and  promise  them — and  the  devil  promises 
them  naught  except  deceit."^ 

On  such  easy  terms  are  the  Lord  and  Satan  in 
Islam,  much  as  in  the  Book  of  Job.  Emphasis  on 
the  absolute  sovereignty  of  Allah  naturally  negates 
the  independence  of  an  evil  power,  and  the  sense 
of  Allah's  immediate  working  negates  Satan's  iso- 
lation. He  no  longer,  it  is  true,  appears  in  the  court 
of  heaven,  but  he  says,  "My  Lord,"  and  regards 
himself  as  part  of  the  necessary  apparatus  of  things.^ 

1  Qur.  xvii,  66. 

2  Compare  generally  with  this  the  chapter  above  on  the  Jinn, 
and  especially  pp.  139  ff. 


290    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

But  the  question  is  bound  to  come  up :  How  does 
the  devil  appear  to  some  and  not  to  others;  and 
when  anyone  sees  a  form,  is  that  the  veritable  form 
(sura)  or  only  a  symbol  (mithdl)  ?  If  it  is  his  veri- 
table form,  how  is  he  seen  in  different  forms,  or  at 
one  time  in  two  different  places  and  in  two  forms  ? 
The  answer  is  that  angels  and  devils  have,  it  is  true, 
each  a  form  which  is  their  real  form;  but  it  cannot 
be  seen  by  the  eye,  and  only  in  the  light  of  the 
prophetic  gift.  Even  the  Prophet  saw  Gabriel  only 
twice  in  his  true  form,  once  when  he  stood  up  before 
him  blocking  all  the  horizon  from  east  to  west,  and 
again  on  the  night  of  the  ascent  to  heaven  (al-Mi^dj) 
beside  the  lote-tree  of  the  extremity.^  Apart  from 
these  occasions  he  mostly  saw  him  in  a  human  form. 

So  with  Satan.  By  far  the  most  frequent  case  is 
that  those  who  have  attained  the  power  to  see  him 
when  awake,  see  him  in  a  form  which  is  a  symbol 
or  likeness  of  his  veritable  form.  There  are  many 
tales  of  this.  And  this  takes  the  place  of  seeing  his 
veritable  form.  The  heart  is  of  such  a  nature  that 
there  must  needs  appear  in  it  a  verity  which  comes  on 
the  side  which  is  over  against  the  world  of  the  heav- 
enly kingdom.  Then  an  effect  from  that  flashes  out 
on  the  side  over  against  the  world  of  sense ;  because 
the  two  are  joined.  What  so  appears  is  only  a  con- 
struction of  the  imagination  (mutakhayyila) ,  as  are 
all  things jn  the  world  of  sense.     In  that  world  the 

^  Qur.'Uii.  „  . 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       291 

outside,  only,  is  reached  by  the  senses,  and  the 
imagination  taking  that  result  is  sometimes  led  en- 
tirely astray ;  the  world  of  sense  is  a  world  of  much 
equivocation.  But  what  comes  to  the  imagination 
by  the  flashing  out  of  the  world  of  the  kingdom  upon 
the  secret  heart  is  like  to  and  corresponds  to  the 
quality  itself,  for  the  form  in  the  kingdom  follows 
the  quality,  and  assuredly  a  vile  conception  there  is 
not  seen  except  in  a  vile  form. 

The  result,  then,  is  that  the  devil  is  seen  sometimes 
by  way  of  symbolization  and  likeness,  and  sometimes, 
but  very  much  more  rarely,  in  his  true  form.  He 
who  sees  him  by  a  symbol  differs  from  the  dreamer 
only  in  the  fact  of  actual  beholding  with  the  eye. 

The  commentator  adds  a  very  interesting  note 
from  Ibn  ^Arabi,  asserting  the  same  thing  of  the  Jinn, 
whom  he  joins  with  the  angels  under  the  one  name 
"spiritual  being"  (ruhdni).  One  curious  further 
detail  may  be  worth  giving  as  it  agrees  exactly  with 
Irish  folk-lore.  So  long  as  a  spiritual  being  is 
looked  at  fixedly  in  one  of  its  forms  by  the  human 
eye,  it  cannot  change  that  form,  but  is,  as  it  were, 
fettered  by  it.  The  ruhdni  must  then  use  a  strate- 
gem  which  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  the  Irish 
leprechaun.  He  produces  a  form  before  himself  like 
a  screen  and  then  causes  this  screen  to  move  away 
to  one  side;  the  eye  of  his  observer  follows  it  invol- 
untarily and  he  escapes.^ 

I  Ihyd,  Vol.  VII,  p.  272;    Keightley,  Fairy  Mythology,  pp. 
372  ff.;  compare  the  case  of  an  apparently  veridical  hallucination 


292    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

But  though  al-Ghazzali  declined  to  go  farther  on 
this  subject  to  his  present  audience,  it  may  be  in 
place  for  me  here  to  introduce  a  statement  of  his 
philosophy  of  spirits.  I  extract  it  from  his  Madnun, 
a  book  containing  developments  of  his  teaching 
which  he  considered  suited  for  specialist  students 
only.    There  he  continues  the  subject  thus:^ 

Angels,  Jinn,  and  devils  are  substances  existing  in  them- 
selves, and  differing  in  essence  in  the  same  way  as  do  species. 
An  example  of  that  is  "power,"  for  it  differs  from  "knowl- 
edge," and  "  knowledge  "  differs  from  "  power  "  and  both 
differ  from  "color."  So  "power"  and  "knowledge"  and 
"color"  are  accidents,  existing  in  something  that  is  not  them- 
selves. Similarly,  between  angel  and  devil  and  Jinn  there  is 
a  difference,  and  yet  each  of  these  has  a  nature  of  its  own. 
That  there  is  a  difference  between  Jinn  and  angels  is  certain, 
but  it  is  not  known  whether  it  is  a  difference  between  two 
species,  like  that  between  "horse"  and  "man,"  or  whether  the 
difference  is  in  accidents  like  that  between  "man  complete" 
and  "incomplete."  Similarly,  the  difference  between  angel 
and  devil.  There — if  the  species  is  one,  and  the  difference 
applies  to  accidents — it  is  like  that  between  a  good  man  and 
a  bad  man,  or  between  a  prophet  and  a  saint.  To  all  appear- 
ance, the  difference  is  that  of  species;  but  knowledge  as  to  this 
is  with  God  only. 

The  above-mentioned  beings  are  indivisible.  I  mean  that 
the  locus  of  knowledge  of  God  is  one  and  indivisible,  for 
unitary  knowledge  is  not  located  save  in  one  locus.     So,  too, 

in  the  Journal  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  for  February, 
1907,  where  "a  big  bumble  bee  whirled  right  through"  the  phan- 
tasm and  made  it  disappear. 

I  Pp.  23  ff.,  edition  of  Cairo  1303. 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       293 

the  essence  of  man.  Knowledge  and  ignorance  of  one  thing, 
when  situated  in  one  locus  are  contradictory,  and  when  in 
two  loci  are  not  contradictory.  And  with  respect  to  the 
indivisibihty  of  this  substance  and  the  question  as  to  whether 
it  is  hmited  or  not,  the  consideration  of  these  questions  goes 
back  to  our  opinion  as  to  the  existence  of  units  that  can  not 
be  further  divided  [the  indestructible  atom].  If  an  indivisible 
unit  is  an  impossibility  [if  there  are  no  atoms],  then  this  sub- 
stance is  undivided  and  unlimited,  and  if  the  existence  of  an 
indivisible  unit  is  not  impossible,  then  it  is  possible  that  this 
substance  is  limited.  And  some  have  said  that  it  is  not  allow- 
able that  it  should  be  either  undivided  or  unlimited,  for  God 
is  both,  and  what  then  would  separate  this  from  him  ?  But 
that  does  not  necessarily  follow,  because  perhaps  they  differ 
in  the  essence  of  their  individuality;  and  if  there  are  stripped 
from  both  of  them  their  divisibility  and  limitedness  and  space 
conditions — ^which  is  simply  removing  from  God  qualities 
belonging  to  human  beings  {suluh) — then  there  remains  only 
the  consideration  of  the  essences,  because  that  which  is  stripped 
from  the  essences  is  like  the  two  accidents  differing  in  defini- 
tion and  nature  and  located  in  the  same  locus,  for  the  asser- 
tion of  their  need  of  a  locus  and  of  their  being  in  the  same 
locus  does  not  mean  that  they  are  like  one  another.  So,  simi- 
larly, stripping  away  the  need  of  locus  and  place  does  not 
mean  that  this  stripping  is  common  to  these  two  things. 

And  it  is  possible  that  these  substances,  I  mean  the  sub- 
stances of  angels,  may  be  seen,  although  they  are  non-sensible. 
This  seeing  is  of  two  kinds,  either  by  way  of  taking  a  sem- 
blance, as  Allah  said,  "And  he  took  for  her  the  semblance 
of  a  well-formed  man."^  and  as  the  Prophet  saw  Gabriel  in 
the  form  of  Dihya  al-Kalbi.  And  the  second  kind  is  that 
some  angels  have  a  sensible  body,  just  as  our  souls  are  non- 
sensible  but  have  a  sensible  body,  which  is  the  locus  of  their 

I  Qur.  xix,  17,  of  Gabriel  appearing  to  Mary. 


294    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

control  and  their  peculiar  world.  So  it  is  with  some  angels. 
And  perhaps  this  sensible  body  is  dependent  upon  the  illumina- 
tion of  the  light  of  the  prophetic  gift,  just  as  the  sensible 
things  of  this  world  of  ours  are  dependent  for  perception  upon 
the  illumination  of  the  light  of  the  sun.  The  case  is  similar 
with  the  Jinn  and  devils. 

3.  The  references  in  the  Qur^dn  and  in  the 
traditions  from  Muhammad  to  the  culpability  of 
evil  thoughts  in  the  heart  are  contradictory  to  a 
degree.  Some  statements  make  such  thoughts 
punishable  and  others  let  them  go  free.  But 
al-Ghazzali  believed  that  he  could  clear  up  the 
confusion  by  a  fourfold  analysis.  First,  he  says, 
there  comes  the  idea  thrown  into  the  mind;  second, 
an  inclination  of  the  nature  toward  the  thing  thus 
suggested;  third,  a  decision  or  conviction  of  the 
heart  in  favor  of  the  thing;  fourth,  a  determination 
and  purpose  to  do  the  thing.  Then  comes  the  actual 
doing  which,  of  course,  is  punishable. 

The  first  two  stages  are  to  be  accounted  guiltless; 
they  come  from  the  nature  of  man.  As  to  the  third, 
all  depends  upon  whether  the  decision  is  voluntary 
or  not.  The  fourth  is  plainly  culpable,  but  if  it 
does  not  pass  into  action,  the  guilt  may  be  wiped  out. 
It  may  have  been  only  a  moment's  heedlessness,  and 
in  the  books  of  the  recording  angels  good  is  entered 
at  ten  times  the  value  of  evil.  Yet  if  anyone  dies 
in  the  purpose  of  mortal  sin,  he  goes  to  the  Fire.  By 
intentions,  deeds  are  judged.  When  Muslims  fight 
together,  both  the  slayer  and  the  slain  are  guilty; 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       295 

the  one  because  he  has  slain  his  brother;  the  other, 
though  dying  wronged,  because  he  had  purposed 
the  slaying  of  his  brother.  The  doctrine  of  inten- 
tion (nlya)  in  Mushm  ethics  plays  a  large  part. 
Ignorance  as  to  an  essential  fact  may  make  a  man 
guilty  or  innocent,  but  the  law  itself  is  unaffected. 
If,  as  in  the  case  above,  a  man  willingly  slays  a 
brother  MusHm,  he  is  guilty;  if  he  slays  him, 
believing  him  not  a  Muslim,  he  is  innocent;  if 
he  slays  a  non-Muslim,  believing  him  a  Muslim,  he 
is  guilty. 

4.  As  to  whether  the  *' whisperings"  of  the  devil 
can  be  entirely  cut  off  by  the  thought  of  God,  those 
who  have  studied  and  know  the  human  heart  are 
of  five  different  opinions.  Some  say  flatly  that  they 
can,  and  base  this  on  the  saying  of  the  Prophet, 
''Whenever  God  is  remembered,  the  devil  retires." 
This  they  take  absolutely.  A  second  party  teaches 
that  they  cannot  be  utterly  destroyed.  They  remain 
in  the  heart  but  produce  no  effect;  the  heart  is  too 
much  occupied  by  the  thought  of  God,  A  third 
party  holds  that  their  effect  also  remains;  there  are 
still  the  "whisperings,"  but  they  are  as  from  a  dis- 
tance and  weak.  A  fourth,  that  they  are  destroyed 
when  God  is  remembered,  but  only  for  a  moment; 
then  the  "remembering"  is  destroyed  for  a  moment; 
and  so  the  two  follow  at  such  close  intervals  that  they 
seem  to  be  competing,  and  the  effect  is  like  a  row 
of  dots  round  a  ball;   if  you  make  it  rotate  rapidly 


296    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

they  become  a  circle.  So  the  withdrawal  of  the 
devil  really  takes  place,  but  we  see  his  "whisperings" 
along  with  our  "remembering."  A  fifth  holds  that 
the  "whisperings"  and  "remembering"  compete 
continuously  in  abiding  in  the  heart,  as  a  man  can 
see  two  things  at  one  time. 

But  the  fact,  in  al-Ghazzali's  opinion,  is  that  all 
these  views  are  sound;  only  each  does  not  cover  all 
the  phases  of  "whispering."  He  would  divide  these 
phases  as  follows.  First,  there  is  a  kind  that  is 
mixed  up  with  the  truth.  The  devil  says  to  a  man, 
"Do  not  abandon  the  pleasures  of  life;  life  is  long, 
and  patience  from  the  lusts  of  the  body  all  one's  life 
is  a  grievous  burden."  Then  if  the  man  remembers 
the  great  fact  of  God  and  of  reward  and  punishment, 
and  says  to  himself  that  patience  from  the  lusts  is 
grievous,  but  patience  in  the  Fire  more  grievous,  and 
that  one  of  these  must  be,  the  devil  turns  and  flees; 
for  he  cannot  say  that  the  Fire  is  easier  than  patience 
from  sin,  or  that  sin  will  not  bring  to  the  Fire.  So 
his  whispering  is  cut  off  by  the  man's  faith  in  the 
Book  of  God.  And  so,  too,  if  he  whisper  wondering 
admiration  and  say,  "What  creature  knows  God 
like  thee,  or  serves  him  as  thou  dost,  and  how 
great  is  thy  standing  with  God !"  The  man  remem- 
bers that  his  knowledge  and  heart  and  limbs  with 
which  he  knows  and  works  are  of  God's  creation; 
and  how,  then,  should  he  be  admired  ?  So  the  devil 
must  needs  retire.     This  kind  of  "whispering"  can 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       297 

be  completely  cut  off  in  the  case  of  those  who  know 
and  see  in  the  light  of  faith. 

The  second  phase  of  '^ whispering"  is  that  which 
rouses  and  moves  lust,  and  it  is  either  of  a  kind 
which  the  creature  recognizes  certainly  as  sin,  or 
suspects  vehemently.  It  he  knows  it  certainly, 
the  devil  retires  from  the  kind  of  rousing  which 
actually  results  in  moving  lust,  but  not  from  simple 
rousing.  And  if  it  is  only  a  suspected  kind,  it 
often  remains  at  work  so  as  to  call  for  vigorous 
treatment  in  repelling  it.  So  this  "whispering" 
exists  but  is  repelled  and  does  not  have  the  upper 
hand. 

The  third  phase  is  that  it  should  be  a  "whispering" 
of  ideas  {khawdtir;  Einjdlle)  only,  and  reminding 
of  past  states  and  a  thinking  of  something  else  than 
prayer,  for  example.  Then  when  the  man  turns 
to  "remembering,"  it  is  conceivable  that  the  whis- 
pering should  be  repelled  at  one  time  and  return  at 
another;  so  the  two  things  keep  alternating  in  the 
heart.  So  it  is  conceivable  that  they  should  compete 
with  one  another  until  the  understanding  embraces 
an  understanding  of  the  sense  of  what  is  recited  and 
of  those  ideas,  as  though  they  were  in  two  different 
places  in  the  heart.  And  it  is  hardly  conceivable 
that  this  kind  can  be  repelled  completely;  yet  it  is 
not  impossible,  since  the  Prophet  said,  "He  who 
prays  a  two-bow  prayer  without  his  soul  bringing 
into  it  something  of  the  world,  all  his  sins  that  have 


298    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

gone  before  are  forgiven  to  him."^  If  this  were 
not  conceivable  the  Prophet  would  not  have  men- 
tioned it;  but  it  can  be  looked  for  only  in  a  heart 
that  love  has  so  mastered  that  it  is  infatuated. 
We  sometimes  see,  in  the  case  of  a  man  whose  heart 
is  so  occupied  with  an  enemy  who  has  injured  him, 
that  he  will  think,  not  for  two  bows  but  for  many, 
about  disputing  with  him,  without  another  thing 
than  thought  of  his  enemy  coming  into  his  head. 
So,  too,  with  one  who  is  deeply  in  love  and  thinks 
of  his  beloved;  he  neither  hears  nor  sees  aught  else. 
How,  then,  may  not  the  same  be  looked  for  from 
fear  of  the  Fire  and  desire  of  the  Garden  ?  Yet  it 
is  rare,  for  faith  in  God  and  the  last  day  is  weak. 

All  the  views,  then,  that  have  been  held  as  to  the 
possibility  of  repelling  the  whisperings  of  the  devil 
are  possible  as  applied  to  the  different  kinds  and 
phases  of  that  whispering.  Safety  from  it,  too,  for 
a  short  period  of  time  is  possible;  but  continuance 
in  safety  for  a  whole  life  is  highly  improbable;  even, 
as  things  are,  impossible.  The  Prophet  himself 
was  distracted  from  prayer  by  the  border  of  his 
own  robe  and  by  a  gold  ring  on  his  finger.  So  the 
sHghtest  possession,  beyond  absolute  necessity, — a 
single  dinar — will  distract  and  bring  thoughts  of  the 
world.     There   can   be   no   compromise.     He  who 

I  Compare  the  story  of  S.  Bernard  and  the  man  and  the  horse 
and  the  saddle  in  the  Golden  Legend,  Vol.  V,  p.  23,  Temple 
edition. 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       299 

holds  the  world  fast  with  his  claws  and  yet  desires  to 
be  free  from  the  devil  is  like  one  who  has  been 
plunged  in  honey  and  thinks  that  flies  will  not  light 
on  him.  The  world  is  an  enormous  gateway  for  the 
devil;  or  rather,  a  multitude  of  gateways.  First,  he 
approaches  a  man  through  his  sins;  if  he  is  repelled, 
then  through  advice,  until  he  makes  him  fall  into 
some  innovation  (bid'^a) ;  if  he  is  repelled  in  that,  he 
leads  him  into  abstinence  until  he  regards  some- 
thing as  unlawful  that  is  not  so;  if  he  is  repelled  in 
that,  he  raises  doubts  as  to  whether  his  ablution 
or  his  prayer  have  been  legally  sound;  and  if  he  is 
repelled  in  that,  he  makes  his  deeds  of  piety  easy 
for  him,  so  that  men  regard  him  as  most  abstinent 
and  patient;  their  hearts  turn  to  him;  he  admires 
himself  and  perishes.  This  is  the  last  stage  of 
temptation;  the  saint  who  escapes  self-admiration 
is  safe  of  the  Garden. 

^.  To  illustrate  the  quickness  of  change  in  the 
heart  and  its  sensitiveness  to  influence,  the  Prophet 
compared  it  to  a  sparrow,  turning  at  every  moment; 
to  a  pot  boiHng  up  all  together;  and  to  a  feather 
blown  on  the  surface  of  the  desert.  But  it  is  always 
in  the  hand  of  God.  Thus  the  Prophet  was  fond 
of  using  as  an  oath  or  form  of  address  the  title  of 
God,  ''Turner  of  Hearts." 

From  the  point  of  view  of  stability  in  good  or  evil, 
or  swaying  between  the  two,  hearts  are  of  three  kinds : 
First,  the  fixedly  good,  however  the  devil  may  assail  it; 


300    RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AND  ATTITUDE  IN  ISLAM 

to  such  a  heart  God  turns  his  face;  it  is  the  heart  at 
rest  as  in  the  Quf^dn  (xiii,  28),  "Do  not  hearts  rest 
in  the  thought  of  Allah!"  Second  is  the  hopelessly 
bad  heart.  In  it  black  smoke  rises  from  passion, 
fills  it  and  extinguishes  its  light;  reason  cannot  see  to 
guide  and  is  subdued  by  the  lusts.  But  third  is  the 
heart  in  which  there  is  constant  swaying  and  con- 
test between  good  and  evil.  The  devil  urges  upon  it 
the  pleasures  of  the  world  and  the  example  of  learned 
theologians;  but  the  angel,  the  abiding  joys  of  heaven 
and  pains  of  hell.  The  position  is  frankly  other- 
worldly, and  the  fear  of  the  Fire  is  the  great  motive 
urged.  ''If  it  were  a  hot  summer  day,  and  all 
mankind  were  standing  out  in  the  sun,  while  you 
had  a  cool  house,  would  you  stand  by  them,  or  would 
you  not  rather  seek  safety  for  yourself  ?  How,  then 
would  you  oppose  them  out  of  fear  of  the  heat  of  the 
sun  and  not  out  of  fear  of  the  heat  of  the  Fire  ?" 

According,  then,  as  the  satanic  qualities  or  the 
angelic  qualities  in  each  heart  are  predominant,  will 
the  issue  be;  and  all  that  will  happen  will  be  in 
agreement  with  the  decree  of  God.  To  him  who  is 
created  for  the  Garden,  the  causes  of  obedience  will 
be  made  easy;  and  to  him  who  is  created  for  the 
Fire,  the  causes  of  rebellion  are  made  easy. 

He  whom  Allah  wills  to  guide,  he  opens  his  breast  to  Islam; 
and  he  whom  he  wills  to  lead  astray  he  narrows  his  breast.^ 
He  is  the  guider  aright  and  the  leader  astray;   he  does  what 

\Qur.  vi,  125. 


THE  TEMPTATIONS  OF  THE  HEART       301 

he  wills,  and  decides  what  he  wishes;  there  is  no  opposer 
of  his  decision  and  no  repeller  of  his  decree.  He  created 
the  Garden  and  created  for  it  a  people,  then  used  them  in 
obedience;  and  he  created  the  Fire,  and  created  for  it  a 
people,  then  used  them  in  rebellion.  And  he  informed  his 
creation  of  the  sign  of  the  people  of  the  Garden  and  of  the  sign 
of  the  people  of  the  Fire;  then  said,  ''The  pure  are  in  pleasure 
and  the  impure  are  in  Jahim'"  ["blazing  fire,"  i.e.,  hell]. 
Then  he  said,  as  has  been  handed  down  from  the  Prophet, 
"These  are  in  the  Garden,  and  I  care  not;  and  these  are  in 
the  Fire,  and  I  care  not."  So  he  is  Allah  Most  High,  the  King, 
the  Reality;  "He  is  not  asked  concerning  what  he  does;  but 
they  are  asked. "^ 

This  is  the  end  of  the  whole  matter,  and  to  this 
must  return  the  vision  of  the  Muslim  mystic  and  the 
ecstasy  of  the  Muslim  saint;  the  dreams  of  a  lover 
and  a  beloved,  and  the  groanings  and  travailings 
of  creation.  Whenever  the  devout  life,  with  its 
spiritual  aspirations  and  fervent  longings,  touches 
the  scheme  of  Muslim  theology,  it  must  thus  bend 
and  break.  For  it,  within  Islam  itself,  there  is  no 
place.  The  enormous  handicap  of  the  dogmatic 
system  is  too  great;  and  if  it  would  live  its  life,  it 
must  wander  out  into  the  heresies  either  of  the  mystic 
or  the  philosopher.  Safety  and  dignity  for  the  indi- 
vidual must  be  sought  in  some  pantheistic  scheme, 
starting  either  from  God  or  from  man.  The  dar- 
wlshes  "  without  law"  (bl-shar^)  are  the  legitimate 
outcome  of  this  paradox  of  al-Ghazzali. 

I  Qur.  Ixxxii,  13,  14.  2  Ibid.,  xxi,  23. 


302    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 

Al-Ghazzall's  general  introduction  to  the  internal 
and  hidden  side  of  life  has  now  been  put  before  you, 
and  the  nature  and  working  of  that  organ  of  com- 
munication with  the  spiritual  world  which  he  calls 
the  "heart"  should  now  be  tolerably  clear.  Clear, 
also,  in  the  broad,  I  trust,  are  the  religious  attitude 
and  the  religious  life  of  Muslims — the  general 
development  for  Islam  of  the  text,  or  thesis,  which  I 
borrowed  from  Mr.  William  James.  You  have  seen 
how  real  to  Muslims  is  that  invisible  world;  you 
have  seen  in  what  ways  they  think  of  it  and  turn 
toward  it;  and  you  have  seen  how  they  try  to  adjust 
themselves  to  it  and  live  into  it.  The  general  drift 
is  now  before  you. 

Yet  it  would  be  easy  to  outline  further  and  certainly 
fruitful  lines  of  investigation.  The  precise  pathology 
of  Muhammad's  psychology  is  one.  Another  would 
be  the  history  of  the  pantheistic  development  in  the 
later  Sufi  schools,  under  Buddhistic  and  Vedantic 
influence — a  wide  field.  A  third  would  be  as  wide 
and  still  more  weighty — the  present  religious  atti- 
tudes and  movements  of  the  Muslim  peoples.  That 
there  are  in  them  stirrings  of  new  life,  born  of  many 
causes,  there  can  be  no  question.  But  these  for  the 
present  must  remain  untouched. 


INDEX 


INDEX^ 


cAbd    al-Qadir    al-jilani,   145, 

162,  199. 
cAbd  ar-Razzak,  170. 
Abel,  139. 

Aboo'l  Hasan,  149,  150. 
Abu  Bakr,  the  Khalifa,  204. 
Abu  Bakr  ash-ShashI,  93. 
Abu  Hanifa,  Code  of,  143. 
Abu-1-Kasim  of  Geelan,  206-8. 
Abu  Nuwas,  85. 
Abu  Shu j as  153. 
Abu  Sufyan,  48. 
Active  Intellect,  212. 
Adam,  136,  141,  280,  289. 
— Aghdni,  22,  31,  36. 
«A=isha,  sayings  of,  44,  60,  113. 
— Ahhirawlya,  al-'^ulum,  254. 
— Akhtal,  23. 
'^Ala-l-fitra,  243. 
'^Alam  al-haqq,  72. 
Alaeddin,  Payne's  trans,  of,  105. 
Alee    El-Leysee,    the    Shaykh, 

210. 
Alexandria,  143. 
cAli,  204;   sayings  of,  91,  232. 
<^Alim,  264. 
Allah  {see  also  God),  129,  135; 

his     sovereignty,     37;      his 

unity,  38;  creation  an  aspect 

I  The  Arabic  article,  {al,  etc.)  is  omitted  when  it  would 
occur  at  the  beginning  of  any  of  these  entries;  in  its  place  a — is 
inserted. 

30s 


of  him,  38;  throned  afar,  79; 
seen  in  dreams,  80;  his 
daughters,  134;  his  imman- 
ence in  the  world,  159;  Al- 
lah and  not- Allah,  159;  a 
concealed  treasure,  170; 
Great  Name  of,  197;  his 
personal  will,  213;  his  aseity, 
225;  his  armies,  231;  his 
presence,  244;  "Everything 
is  perishing  save  his  face," 
245;  Alldhu  ahbar,  247; 
Alldh-Alldh,  256;  "All  is 
God;"  "Godisall,"257;I,a- 
ildha  illd-lldh,  208,  257,  260; 
contemplation  {mushdhada) 
of  him,  260;  "Turner  of 
hearts,"  299;  his  absolute 
guidance  aright  and  astray, 
300;  "These  are  in  the  Fire 
and  I  care  not,"  301. 

Almsgiving,  37. 

Amalek,  28. 

Amicable  Numbers,  115. 

Amina,  22. 

Amos,  the  Prophet,  i4>  37- 

Angels,  275,  276,  292,  294, 
300;  of  revelation,  59;  at 
Babel,  Harut  and  Marut, 
113;  armies  of,  288. 


3o6    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 


Animal  Spirit,  72. 

Antichrist,  Jewish,  35. 

Apuleius,  Golden  Ass  of,  com- 
pared with  Arabian  Nights^ 
128,  129. 

<^Aql  =  b  povs  and  t6  voovfievov 
230,  231. 

^Aqli,  265. 

— ^Aqltya,  al-Hilum,  254. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  218. 

Arabia,  poets  in  ancient,  16,  18; 
kdhin  of,  49. 

Arabian  Nights,  126,  128,  141- 
43;  "Story  of  Sul  and  Shu- 
mul,  141;  "Story  of  Harun 
ar-Rashid  and  Tuhfat  al- 
Qulub,"  141;  "History  of 
the  Forty  Vizirs,"  141; 
"Story  of  Abdullah  and  his 
Brothers,"  141;  "Story  of 
the  Fisherman  and  the  Jin- 
ni,"  151. 

Arabs,  17,  24;  skepticism  of, 
4;  soothsaying  among,  9; 
inspiration    of    their    poets, 

_i9. 

^Arif,  268,  273. 

— Arim,  breaking  of  dam  of, 
21. 

Aristotle,  53;  "commonsense" 
of,  56,  67,  78. 

Aristotelian  philosophers  in 
Islam,  42,  51,  151,  158. 

Armenians,  106. 

^Arrdf,  25,  99. 

Artemidorus  (oneirocritic),  77. 

— Ashman,  91,  92;  his  visions 
of  Muhammad,  89  £f. 


G Attar,  205. 

Augustine,  14. 

Aurangzib,  195,  196,  202,  203. 

Auto-hypnosis,  257,  262. 

Automatic  speech,  99. 

Automatic  writers'  formulae, 
76. 

Auto-suggestion  common  in 
the  East,   156. 

Averroes,  position  of,  125;  two- 
fold truth  of,  227. 

Avicenna,  56,  152. 

A<^war,  288. 

Awliyd,  136. 

— Azhar,  University  of,  152. 

B 

Balaam,  17,  26,  27. 
Babel,  people  of,  108,  113. 
Badakhshan,  195. 
Badger,    Dr.    G.   P.,    English- 
Arabic  Lexicon  of,  121. 
Baghdad,  145,  162. 
— Bahaee,  the  Shaykh,  210. 
— Bajuri,   canon   lawyer,    138, 

153- 
Bd-shar^  Darwishes,  258. 

Bath  qol,  272. 

— Bedawee,  the  Sayyid,  211. 

Bedawis,  11. 

Bene  Elohim,  38, 

— Beruni,  dream  of,  S6. 

Berkeley,  Bishop, — "The  esse 

is  the  percipi,"  170. 
Bid^a,  299. 

Bl-shar<^  Darwishes,  258,  301. 
Bit-taqlid  was-samd^,  al-'^ulum, 

254. 


INDEX 


307 


Body,  a  vehicle,  232;  needs  of, 
232;  likened  to  a  king  in  his 
kingdom,  235;  and  mind, 
252,  265. 

Black  Stone  at  Mecca,  216. 

Bland,  N.,  reference  to,  77. 

Breath,  constraint  of,  in  reli- 
gious exercises,  262. 

Brockelmann,  Prof.  Carl,  loi. 

Browne,  Prof.  E.  S.,  quoted, 
86,  127,  153. 

— Bukhari,  Sahlh  of,  35. 

Bunyan,  Holy  War  of,  235. 

Burdon,  Major  Alder,  refer- 
ence to,  162. 

Burton,  Sir  Richard,  quoted, 
91,  142. 

Byzantium,  267. 


Cain,  139. 

Cairo,  126,  143,  148,  153,  206. 

Canon  lawyers  of  Islam, 
215. 

Caper  plant,  virtues  of,  150. 

Carmen,  28. 

Chaldeans,  108,  113. 

Chauvin,  Professor  Victor,  ref- 
erence to,  143. 

Chill  e,  153. 

China,  267. 

"Christian  Science,"  117. 

Colored  photisms,   201. 

"Comforters,  the,"  72. 

Companionship  with  a  shaykh, 
261. 

Copts,  106. 

Crystal  gazing,  97,  126. 


D 

— Damiri,  quoted,  22,  23,  148, 

151- 
Dara  Shukoh,  202. 

— Daruriya,  al-'^ulum,  254. 

Darwish    fraternities,     162  fif., 

210,  301;   place  of,  in  Islam, 

163;    religious  exercises  of, 

14;      hd-shar'^-hl-shar^,     258; 

Naqshbandite,   259;    Qadir- 

ite,  195. 
Ddsim,  288. 
David,  29. 
Death,  artificial,  by  asceticism, 

100. 
Decorated    vestibule,    parable 

of,  266. 
Defremery,  reference  to,  94. 
De  Slane,  references  to,  84,  105, 

no,  113,  124,  132,  142,  165. 
Deuteronomy,  Book  of,  22. 
Devil,   devils,    284,    296,   300; 

never  sleeps,  278;    form  of, 

290;    Devil  or  devils?    287; 

nature   of,    292-94;     pelting 

of,  65,  136. 
Dhawg,  182,  187,  190. 
Dhihr,  161,  259,  261,  274,  284- 

87. 
Dieterici,  Professor  Fr.,  152. 
Dihya  al-KaIbi,  293. 
— Diniya,  al-Hilum,  254. 
Discipline  of  the  Traveler,  220. 
Divination  through  the  insane, 

98. 
Dominicans,  164. 
Dreams,    books    of,     77,    80; 

"bundles    of    dreams,"    73; 


3o8    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 


interpretation  of,  77;  seeing 
Muhammad  or  God  in 
dream,  93;  access  to  Unseen 
in  dream,  214;  veridical 
dreams,  272. 

Duldul,  91. 

Du  Manner's  "dreaming  true," 

83. 

— Dunyd,  232. 

— Dunyawiya,  al-'^ulum,  254. 
Dupont  and  Cappolani's  Con- 

jreries     religieuses     Mustil- 

manes,  165. 
— Duhhdn  (chap,  of  Qur.),  35. 

E 
Earthly  Paradise,  the,  289. 
Ecclesiastes,  8. 
Economy  of  teaching  in  Islam, 

227,  284. 
Ego  in  Islam,  229. 
Egypt  and  its  magicians,  108, 

113- 
Eli,  29. 

Elijah,  II. 

Eve,  141. 

Evil  Eye,  the,  119. 

F 

Fall,  the,  139,  289. 

Fand,  248,  260,  262. 

— Farabi's    definition    of    the 

Jinn,  151. 
Fdtiha,  the,  210. 
Fatima,  sister  of  Dara  Shukdh, 

203. 
— Farazdaq,  36. 
Fayd,  226. 
Fetish  power  in  poetry,  26. 


Fez,  94. 

Fi-fadli-l-^ilm,  120. 

Fikrist,  the,  77,  144. 

Fi-l-istinjd,  138. 

Fi-l-mw^dmala,  288. 

Fire,  the,  fear  of,  in  Islam,  123. 

Fleischer  on  colored  photisms, 
201. 

"Flesh,"  228. 

Flint,  Robert,  reference  to,  41. 

Franciscans,  164. 

Freemasons,  lodges  of,  com- 
parison with,  164 

Fulani  Emirates  of  northern 
Nigeria,  162. 

G 

Gabriel,  Archangel,  19,  20,  38, 
287,  293. 

Galen,  72. 

Galland's  MS  of  Arabian 
Nights,  151. 

Geber,  109,  no. 

"General  sense,"  74,  234. 

Geomancy,  105. 

Ghani,  267,  268. 

Ghayba,  260,  262. 

— Ghazzali,  Abu  Hamid,  6,  14 
82,  83,  91-93,  131,  144,  i45» 
150,  220,  223-28,  230,  236, 
239,  240-42,  245,  249,  252, 
258,  261-65,  268,  272,  274, 
278-80,  284,  287,  292,  294, 
296,  301,  302;  on  dreaming, 
80;  dreams  of,  92;  conversion 
of,  123;  his  Jinn-raising, 
144;  as  a  Sufi,  174-219; 
anecdotes  about,  193;  philo- 


INDEX 


309 


sophical  agnosticism  and 
faith  in  the  supernatural, 
218;  Ihyd  of,  220,  291; 
doctrine  of  the  "heart,"  221; 

— ^^Madnun  as-saghlr"  of 
(quoted),  227,  292;  Book  0} 
Thanksgiving  of,  233;  psy- 
chology of,  234;  allegories 
of  life  of  man  of,  234;  episte- 
mology  of,  254. 

Gibb,  E.  J.  W.  "Story  of 
Khannas,"   quoted,    140. 

God,  fatherhood  of,  39;  suffer- 
ing, 39- 

Golden  Legend,  298. 

Goldziher,  Prof.  Ignaz,  quoted; 
Arab.  PhiloL,  16,  23,  28,  34, 
139,  160;  Muhammedanische 
Studien,  160,  161. 

Goliath,  28. 

Greeks,  oracles  of,  29. 


Holy  Ghost,  the,  39. 

Hosea,  the  Prophet,  14,  37. 

Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islam, 
'reference  to,  161. 

Hulul,  187. 

Hypnosis,  67,  196;  "Sug- 
gestion" in,  200. 

— Haqq,  the  Reality,  247,  248, 

259- 
Haqiql,  265. 

Harem,    the,    at   Mecca,    216, 

217. 
Harran,  100, 
Harun  ar-Rashid,  marriage  to 

a  Jinni  of,  143. 
Harut,  113, 
Hassan  ibn  Thabit,  initiation 

of,  18,  19. 
Hdti},  25,  272. 
Haivd,  276. 


H 

Hadlth  najs,  286. 

Hadji  Khan,  With  the  Pil- 
grims to  Mecca,  quoted, 
216-18. 

Hdgd,  30. 

Hdl,  182. 

Hallucinations,  non-veridical, 
263;  auditory,  272;  visual, 
272. 

Haldm,  75. 

"Haluma  of  the  perfect  na- 
ture," 75. 

— Halumlya,  75. 

Hereph,  28. 

Holy  Spirit,  188. 


Iblis,  135,  136,  139,  141,  208, 

278. 
Ibn  cAbd  Rabbihi,  Iqd  of,  84, 

85. 

Ibn  cArabI  and  the  sea  mon- 
ster, 147;  on  knowledge,  188. 

Ibn  Batuta,  94,  loi. 

Ibn  Khaldun,  40-45,  47-49,  52 
ff.,  76,  79,  8s,  93,  104-16, 
119,  120,  131,  133,  150,  166, 
169,  170,  173,  189,  203,  268. 
Muqaddima  of,  40;  on  in- 
spiration, 42;  his  definition 
of  prophecy,  42;  on  signs  of 
the  prophets,  44;  on  mission 
of  prophets,  53  ff.,  on  verses 


310    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 


of  Qur^an  on  angels,  Jinn, 
etc.,  6i  ff.,  130;  on  dream- 
ing, 69;  on  Sufis,  loi,  166; 
on  idiot-saints,  104;  on 
magic  and  talismans,  108, 
117;  his  experiences  of 
magic,  113,  114;  his  philoso- 
phy of  miracles,  etc.,  117; 
on  miracles  of  saints,  118; 
his  utilitarianism,  119,  122; 
on  the  evil  eye,  119;  on 
mysticism,  123;  on  the 
Divine  Unity,  124;  on  the 
Jinn,  130;  his  pragmatic 
position,  131;  on  soothsay- 
ing, 162. 

Ibn  Khallikan,  142;  dream  of, 
84-86. 

Ibn  Qasim,  138,  153. 

Ibn  Sayyad,  34-36,  64,  66. 

Ibn  Shaddad,  Qadi  Baha  ad- 
din.  College  of,  84. 

Ibn  Sina,  see  Avicenna. 

Ibn  al-Wahshiya,  no. 

Ibrahim  al-Khawwas,  271. 

Ibrahim  ibn  Adham,  271. 

Idea,  devotion  of  orientals  to 
single,  10. 

clfrits  {see  also  Jinn),  155. 

Ilhdm,  252,  254,  255,  275,  276. 

^Ilm,  288. 

— c//w  ar-rahbdni,  al-ladtmi, 
269. 

Imr  al-Qays,  31. 

Intellect,  like  a  hunter  with 
horse  and  dog,  236. 

Intention,  doctrine  of,  295. 

"Interesting,"   120-22. 


Iqtibds,  I. 

<^Ir}dn,  248. 

Isaiah,  13,  14,  37. 

Isaiah,  Book  of  (8: 19),  29. 

Islam,  religious  attitude  in, 
2,  14;  future  life  in,  15; 
Holy  Spirit  in,  19,  37,  62; 
inspiration  of  poets  in,  25; 
pantheism  in,  39;  dualistic 
mysticism  in,  39;  shell  of 
law  in,  42;  Aristotelianism 
in,  53;  Neoplatonism  in, 
5i»  53»  77»  124;  dream- 
books  in,  77;  stories  of 
dreams  in,  83;  dreaming  in, 
94;  alchemy  in,  no;  fear 
of  the  Fire  in,  123;  magic  in 
modern,  126;  the  Fall  and 
original  sin  in,  139;  saints 
in,  157;  ascetic-ecstatic  life 
in,  157;  mystical  faith  in, 
159;  communities  of  beg- 
ging friars  in,  161;  mon- 
asteries in,  161;  darwish 
fraternities  in,  163;  tertiaries 
in,  164;  women  saints  in, 
165;  pathways  to  reality  in, 
214;  final  pantheism  in,  301. 

Isma^^ilite  influence  on  Sufis, 
171. 

Ispahan,   153,   154. 

Israfil,  216. 

Ittihdd,  187,  248, 


Jacob,  blessing  of,  22. 
Jacobus  a  Voragine,   Legenda 
Aurea  of,  5,  298. 


INDEX 


311 


Jadhha,  258. 

Jahlm,  301. 

Janv^,  261. 

James,  Professor  William,  ref- 
erences to,  I,  175,  201,  212, 
257»  272,  302. 

Jeremiah,  the  Prophet,  14,  37. 

Jesuits,  order  of,  219. 

Jesus,  139,  278,  282. 

Jethro,  29. 

Jihad,  lesser  and  greater,  235, 
236. 

Jinn,  the,  11,  17,  26,  29,  44,  62, 
116,  127-37,  141,  149^  i5o> 
i53>  154,  289,  291-94;  in 
Islam,  130  ff,,  Robertson 
Smith  on,  133  ff.;  Muham- 
mad and  the  J.,  135  ff.;  Jinn 
of  Nasibin,  138;  salvability 
of,  139;  Harun  ar-Rashid 
and  the,  142;  can  they  be 
seen?  142;  marriages  with 
men,  143;  loves  of,  144;  al- 
Ghazzali's  raising  of,  144; 
in  folk-lore,  145;  Jinn  of 
China,  146;  devotees  and 
students  of,  149;  have  they 
reason?  151;  al-Farabi's 
definition  of,  151;  Avi- 
cenna's  definition  of,  152; 
speech  of,  152;  whistling 
of,     152;     how    to    control, 

153- 
Jinni,  a,  18,  20,  33,  37,  45. 

Jismdm,  265. 

Job,  Book  of  (10:30),  289. 

Judah,  14. 

JuMya,  i.e.  yogis,  loi. 


K 

Ka^ba,  218. 

Kdhin,  hdhina,  22,  25,  29,  30- 

34,  37»    49,  64,    67,  98,  99, 

135- 
Kardma,     hardmat,      miracles 

of  saints,  50,  95. 
Keightley's    Fairy    Mythology 

referred  to,  291. 
Khawdtir,  275,  297. 
Khaydl,  265. 

— Khadir,  el  Khidr,  211,  262. 
Khinzih,  277,  288. 
Kipling's,  Mr.  Rudyard,  Kim 

referred  to,  257. 
Kohen  see  Kdhin,  25,  29. 

L 

Labhayha  yd  rabband,  32,  217. 

Lane,  E.  W.,  on  magic  mirror, 
126;  his  trans,  of  Arabian 
Nights,  139,  143,  153,  163, 
206,  209;  his  Modern  Egyp- 
tians, 139,  163. 

Lang's,  Mr.  Andrew,  Making 
of  Religion,  reference  to,  97. 

Latlja  rabbdnlya,  221. 

— Lawh  al-mahjuz,  253,   264, 

Legenda  Aurea,  5,  298. 

Leprechaun,  291. 

Law,  attitude  to  in  East  and 
West,  6  ff.;  Ottoman,  143, 
153;  Shaficite,  153;  shell  of, 
in  East  and  West,  8  ff. 

M 

— Madina,  18,  34,  36,  61,  80, 
137,  277;  chapters  and 
verses  of,  61. 


312    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 


— Madniin  of  al-Ghazzali, 
quoted,  80,  190. 

Magic,  theory  of,  51;  three 
kinds  of,  112;  slitters,  114- 
16;  magicians  in  modern 
Islam,  126  f.;   black,  128. 

Majdhubs,  258. 

— Malahut,  243,  245. 

Man,  between  the  beasts  and 
the  angels,  237;  his  knowl- 
edge and  will,  237;  four 
properties  in,  240;  what 
"under  his  hide,"  240;  higher 
than  the  angels,  273;  all  his 
knowledge  ultimately  inspi- 
rational, 250. 

Mandal,  magic  figure,  153. 

Mansoul,  leaguer  of,  235;  City 
of,  280. 

Margoliouth,  Professor,  Life  oj 
Muhammady  referred  to,  46. 

Marco  Polo,  94. 

MarH  basU,  98. 

Marut,  113. 

Masabih,  36. 

Maslama  ibn  Ahmad  of  Ma- 
drid, 109,  no. 

Maxwell,  Dr.,  117,  200;  his 
Metapsychical  Phenomena 
referred  to,  127. 

Mecca,  45,  61,  91,  197,  203; 
chapters  and  verses  of,  61; 
Meccan  period  of  Muham- 
mad, 68;  pilgrimage  to,  86, 
88,  215. 

"Mental  Science,"  117,  200. 

Merv,  87,  88. 

"Metapsychical,"  117. 


Myers',  F.  W.  H.,  Human 
Personality,  reference  to,  272. 

Min  ladunnd,  269. 

Min  rabbihi,  269. 

— Mi'^rdj,  290. 

Miswdt,  288. 

Mitchell,  Dr.  Weir,  reference 
to,  272. 

Mithdl,  mithl,  81,  82,  290. 

Molla  Shah,  195,  199,  202-4. 

Morocco,  saints  of,  149. 

Moses,  I,  21,  22,  28,  108,  113, 
280. 

Moshel,  15,  17. 

— Mubarrad,  Kdmil  and 
Rawda  of,  84,  85. 

— Mubashshirdt,  72. 

Muhammad,  the  Prophet,  i, 
10,  14,  18,  19,  22,  31,  33-42, 
45-49,  65,  67,  69,  72,  80,  135, 
204,  210,  225,  277,  290,  292; 
sayings  of,  19,  43>  44,  59,  60, 
64,  72,  74,  81,  124,  136,  137, 

139,  175,  178,  179,  i99>  214, 
228,  235,  241,  276,  277,  279, 
281,  284,  294,  295,  297,  299; 
inspiration  of,  19;  inspira- 
tional seizures  of,  33,  44,  59 
ff.;  two  ideas  of,  37;  mira- 
cles of,  49;  auto-hypnosis  of, 
68;  M.  seen  in  dreams,  77, 
80;  M.  and  the  Jinn,  135  flf.; 
at  Mt.  Hira,  187;  usage 
(sunna)  of,  279;  psycholog- 
ical experiences  of,  298. 

Muhammad  ibn  Ahmad  at- 
Tabasi,  144. 

Muhammad  al-Andalusi,   149. 


INDEX 


3^3 


Mw^jiza,  49. 

— Muhtdsiha  hit-ta  ^allum  ival- 

istidldl,  al-^ulum,  259. 
— Munqidh      of     al-Ghazzali, 

quoted,  170. 
Murdqaba,  259. 

Murtada,  the  Sayyid,  220,  257. 
Musaylima,  66. 
Mushdhada,  260. 
Mustafa  al-Munadee,  210. 
Mutahhayyila,  290. 
Mutashdbihdt,  113. 
Muttahid,  169. 
Mu^tazilites,  49-51*  87,  89,  91, 

150. 

N 

Nabateans,  108,  113. 
Nabatean  Agriculture,  Booh  of, 

108,  109. 
Najatha,  19. 

Najs,  228,  229,  231,  274. 
— Najs  al-mutmaHnna,  229. 
— Nafs  al-lawwdma,  229. 
— Nafs  al-ammdra  bis-siP,  230. 
Nasir    ibn    Khusraw,     dream 

and  conversion  of,  86-88. 
— Naivaivi,  36. 
NebhPtm,  13,  16,  37. 
Neoplatonism  in  Islam,  51,  53, 

77,  124. 
Nephesh,  228. 
New  Testament,  49. 
Nlya,  295. 
Noah,  281. 
Numbers,  Book  of,  20. 

O 
Occam,    158;    nominalism    of, 
172. 


"Odysseus,"  Turkey  in  Europe 

of,  quoted,  122. 
Old  Testament,   11,  15,  29,  49, 

160. 
Omreh,  216. 
Original  sin  in  Islam,  doctrine 

of,  139. 
Ottoman  law,  143. 
"Outpouring,"  226. 

P 

Paul,  222. 

Payne,  Mr,  John,  on  geomancy, 
105;  transl.  of  Arabian 
Nights,  141,  142. 

"People  of  the  upper  region," 
70. 

Pepys,  94. 

Perinde  ac  si  cadaver,  219. 

Peter  the  Cruel,  40. 

Piper,  Mrs.,  46,  47,  64. 

Plotinian  pantheism,  151,  159, 
170. 

Poet  in  ancient  Arabia,  16  flf.; 
as  leader  of  Arabs,  21;  in- 
spiration of  poets  in  Islam, 

25- 
Porphyry,  the  oneirocritic,  77. 

"Possession"  in  abnormal  psy- 
chology, 99. 

Potiphar,  29. 

Powers  of  numbers  and  letters, 
106. 

Pratt,  Professor  J.  B.,  203. 

Preserved  Tablet,  the,  253, 
264,  265. 

Prophecy,  214. 

Prophets,  sons  of,  11;  schools 
of,  16;    miracles  of,  5;    soul 


314    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 


of,     52,     58;      inspirational 

nature  of,  58. 
Prophetism;  37,  soil  of,  12  ff. 
Proverbs,  Booh  of  (chap.  31), 

30. 

Q 

Qabas,  i. 

Qabul,  261. 

Qadirites,  162,  195. 

Qadhafa,  252. 

— Qadisiya,  119. 

QdHd,  22. 

Qalb,  221,  231. 

Qarib  ibn  al-Aswad,  66. 

Qarin,  19. 

— Qazwini,  145. 

Qur^a7t,  30,  60-62,  65,  67,  74, 

113.  I37>  138,  i43>  i5i>  172, 
253»  255,  268,  269,  274,  283, 
294;  revelation  of,  18;  crea- 
tion of,  26;  Q.  of  the  devil, 
26;  a  miracle,  52;  in  saf, 
67;  "clear"  and  "obscure" 
verses  in,  133;  references  to 
— ii,  271,  p.  276;  iv,  162,  p. 
280;  V.  4,  p.  61;  vi,  125,  pp. 
179.  245,  300;  vii,  10  ff.,  p. 
280;  vii,  19,  p.  274;  vii,  171, 
p.  92;  vii,  178,  p.  205;  viii, 
24,  p.  223;  xii,  44,  p.  74;  xii, 
53>  P-  230;  xiii,  28,  pp.  241, 
300;  xiii,  33,  p.  45;  XV,  18, 
p.  65;  xvi,  74,  p.  143;  xvii, 
12,  p.  282;  xvii,  66,  p.  289; 
xvii,  87,  pp.  225,  239;  xviii, 
23,  p.  260;  xviii,  48,  p.  136; 
xviii,  64,  p.  269;  xix,  17,  p. 
293;  XX,  10,  p.  i;   XX,  no,  p. 


47;  XX,  118,  p.  274;  xxi 
5,  p.  74;  xxi,  23,  p.  301;  xxi 
38,  p.  282;  xxvi,  89,  p.  190 
xxvii,  7,  p.  i;  xxvii,  63,  p 
184;  xxviii,  30,  p.  93;  xxviii 
88,  pp.  245,  246;  xxxiii,  41 
p.  161;  xxxiii,  72,  p.  243 
xxxvii,  8,  p.  57;  xxxviii,  34 
p.  287;  xxxix,  23,  p.  245 
xxxix,  27,  p.  229;  xl,  9,  p 
143;  xl,  16,  p.  247;  xiii,  50 
p.  254;  xliv,  p.  35;  xlvi 
28  ff.,  p.  136;  xlix,  12,  p 
285;  1,  15,  p.  274;  1,  21,  p 
178;  li,  49,  p.  276;  li,  56,  p 
232;  liii,  p.  290;  lix,  19,  p 
223;  Ixxii,  p.  135;  Ixxiii,  pp 
34,  44;  Ixxiii,  5,  p.  60 
Ixxiv,  p.  34;  Ixxiv,  34,  p 
231;  Ixxv,  2,  p.  229;  Ixxv 
16,  p.  47;  Ixxxii,  13,  14,  p 
301;  xci,  8,  p.  252;  cxii,  p 
197;  cxiii,  p.  113;  cxiv,  4,  5 
p.  274. 

Quraysh,  tribe  of,  22. 

— Qushayrl,  270. 

Qutb  or  "axis,"  171. 

R 

Rabi<:a,  205. 

Rdhib,  161. 

— RazI,  Mafdtih  al-ghayb  of, 
152. 

Reality,  the,  259,  301;  path- 
ways to,  214. 

"Remembering"     God,     161, 

295- 
Renan,  reference  to,  135. 

Robertson,  W.  F.,  quoted,  i. 


INDEX 


315 


Romans,  Epistle  to  (8:22),  66. 
Rilh,  324,  231,  239. 
Ruhdni,  291. 


SdHh,  161. 

Saints,  70,  103  ff.;  fastidious- 
ness of,  as  to  burial,  5;  in 
East  and  West,  5 ;  examples 
of  miracles  of,  49,  103,  172, 
269;  of  Morocco,  149;  hier- 
archy of  Muslim,  158;  as 
ascetics,  160;  as  teachers, 
160;  hypnotic  and  anti- 
nomian,  195;  stories  of,  269. 

Sainthood,  214. 

Saf,  22,  29-32,  64,  67. 

Salih  Beg,  197. 

Sdlik,  259. 

Samuel,  13,  23,  25,  29. 

Sanguinetti,  reference  to,  94. 

Sanusites,  162. 

Satan,  92,  140,  141,  290;  his 
family,  288. 

Sawda  bint  Zuhra,  22. 

Selves,  subliminal,  42. 

Sensuous-ascetic  paradox  of 
man's  nature,  197. 

Seville,  40. 

Scroll  oj  the  seven  stars,  109. 

Scrying  in  Islam,  97. 

— Shadhili,  272. 

Shah  Jahan,  202,  203. 

Shahwa  kddhiba,  sddiqa,  228. 

Shd'^ir,  17,  21,  25. 

Shakhs,  81. 

— Sha^rani,  147,  149. 

— Shar'^iya,  al-^ulum,  254. 


Shatahdt,  173. 

Shay  ban  ar-Ra%  270,  271. 

Shay  tan  (see  also  Satan,  devil), 

26,  56,  275. 
Schefer,  reference  to,  86. 
— Shibli,  269,  270. 
Shi'ite,  171. 
Shiloh,  29. 
Shi%  31. 
Shuhr,  260. 
Smith,  W.  Robertson,  quoted, 

i33>  139- 
Snobbishness        in        Muslim 

thought,  227. 

Signatures,  doctrine  of,  107. 

Sirdt,  204. 

Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search, 36,  84,  155,  156, 
201,  292. 

Socrates,  daifxcov  of,  24,  272. 

Solomon,  287. 

Soothsaying,  nature  of,  62. 

Soul  and  body,  55,  116,  228, 
tendency  upwards,  55;  three 
kinds  of,  57;  apprehension 
by,  73;  rational  soul,  76-78; 
nature  of,  96;  child's  ra- 
tional soul,  96;  rational  soul 
of  magicians,  in,  112. 

Speaking  head,  the,  100. 

Speaking  with  tongues,  172. 

Spirits  of  the  spheres,  212. 

Spitta  Bey,  reference  to,  89. 

Sprenger,  Alois,  references  to, 
44,  46. 

St.  Bernard,  298. 

St.  Francis,  272. 

St.  John,  Bayle,  Two  Years  in 


3i6    RELIGIOUS  ATTITUDE  AND  LIFE  IN  ISLAM 


a  Levantine  Family,  refer- 
ences to,  143,  155,  156. 

Subliminal  consciousness,  42, 
263. 

Sufis,  derivation  of  name,  161, 
166;  Muslim  view  of  origin, 
165;  dictionaries  of  biog- 
raphy, 165;  ladder  of 
''states,"  167,  173,  174,  188, 
189;  books  of,  167;  methods 
of  rending  veil  of  sense,  168; 
metaphysics,  169;  discipline 
of  the  soul,  171;  unveiUng  of 
the  unseen  world,  171;  con- 
trol of  material  things,  171; 
path  of,  181,  255,  256;  view 
of  najs,  229. 

Sufyan  ath-Thawri,  270,  271. 

Suluh,  293. 

Suluk,  258. 

Sura,  290. 

Surayj,  85. 

Swinnerton's  Indian  Nights' 
Entertainments,  reference  to, 
272. 

Syrians,  108,  113. 


— Tabari,  Qur^an  commentary 
of,  references  to,  47,  252. 

Tajalla,  170. 

Tahahhana,  32. 

Talismans,  11,  117,  216. 

Taqwa,  287. 

Tabuk,  Raid  of,  61. 

Tarlq,  tarlqa,  255,  259. 

Tawakkul  Beg,  195-98,  200, 
202,^203,  263. 


Tawjlq,  275. 

Tawhid,  248. 

Tennyson,     auto-hypnosis    of, 

257- 
Thabr,  288. 

Theologians,  speculative,  118, 
266. 

Thomas,  Mr.  N.W.,  on  crystal- 
gazing,  126. 

"Thought"  (dhihr)  of  God, 
259,  277,  286. 

Tinttim  the  Indian,  Book  of, 
109. 

Timur,  40. 

Trinity,  doctrine  of,  19. 

Tulayha  al-Asadi,  66. 

U 

— <^Ulum,  254. 

— ^UlUm      al-mahmuda     wal- 

madhniuma,  120. 
cUmar,  the  Khalifa,  loi,  204, 

244. 
Unity  and  multiplicity,  170. 
Unseen,  reality  of,  to  orientals, 

2ff. 

Urim  and  Thummim,  25. 
cUthman,  the  Khalifa,  204. 

V 

Van  Vloten,  reference  to,  139. 
Van  Dyck,  Dr.  E.  A.,  reference 

to,  56. 
Vates,  28. 
Verne,  Jules,  126. 
"Verse  of  the  Religion,"  61. 
Vision,  70  ff.;    from  God,  74; 

from  angels,    74;    from  the 


INDEX 


317 


devil,  74;  of  God  and  of  Mu- 
hammad in  dream,  80. 

Vollers,  Professor  Karl,  refer- 
ence to,  163. 

Von  Kremer,  quoted,  163,  195, 
202. 

W 

Wahhabites,  215. 

Wahy,  59,  252-54. 

Walahdn,  288. 

Walt,    awliyd,    161,    252,    261, 

271,  273. 
Waswds,  274,  275. 
Wellhausen,    Professor  Julius, 

references  to,  25,  139. 
Wells,  Mr.  H.  G.,  126. 
Weil,  Gustav,  reference  to,  46. 
Weir,  Mr.  T.  H.,  The  Shaikhs 

0}  Morocco,  quoted,  149. 
"Whisperings"    of    the    devil, 

274,  278,  296,  298. 
Wildyeh,  207,  210. 
Wizards,  95,  99. 
World  of  the  elements,  54;    of 


becoming,  54;  of  animals,  54; 

of  angels,  55;  of  reality,  72. 
Wordsworth,  quoted,    12,    13; 

his  "eternal  deep"  referred 

to,  263. 
Women  in  religious  Islam,  205. 
Wusiil,  187. 
Wiistenfeld,   references  to,  84, 

85,  142,  145- 


Yah  we,  21. 
Yiddi'^dni,  17,  29. 
Yogis,  1 01. 

Young,  Mr.  George,  Corps  de 
Droit  Ottoman,  references  to, 

143- 

Z 

Zdhid,  161. 
ZalanbUr,  288. 

Zeller's  Aristotle  and  the  Earlier 
Peripatetics,  reference  to,  56. 
— Zubayr  ibn  al-^Awwam,  137. 
Zuhayr  ibn  Janab,  21. 


Date  Due 


*-.. 


j-ACUtlt 


iui{  17  '48 


•i3SSrt-^K 


•  • 


— saal 


BP161.M134 

The  religious  attitude  and  life  in  Islam 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00010  2980 


